Balto Risky Business
by StormRhino
Summary: This is the sequel to Balto Call of the North and contains many references to that story, so make sure you read that first; otherwise you will be totally lost. Since I hate giving anything away about the story, I wont spoil it, but I will say that this has a bigger dose of action than its predecessor.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Chicago June 5, 1929

Andre Zacherov half-heartedly flipped through the newspaper in front of him and sipped his bitter, burnt coffee. Ever since the end of the dog sled race in February, it seemed the local news had returned to its original bland flavor. The best thing the paper could come up with is a story about how a couple of crocodiles had escaped from the local zoo. Some new spice was added to his day when the phone rang. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the humble loft in which he resided. Andre snatched up the candle-stick phone and held the receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" he said into it.

"We need to meet." said a monotone voice on the other end. Andre stood strait up at the sound of the familiar voice. A tingle ran up and down his spine.

"Where?"

"Lakeshore drive will do. We need to discuss a new business arrangement."

"Consider me there." the line was cut and he set the phone back down.

"Would it ever kill the man to say good-bye?" Andre said to himself. He quickly got ready to leave. Andre picked up his grey coat off of the rack and its matching hat. Something was missing; he opened the drawer in the table next to his door and saw what he was looking for; his pearl encrusted .45 caliber handgun resting in its shoulder holster.

"Can't be too careful." Andre picked the gun up out of the drawer and checked to make sure it was loaded. He slipped the holster on and concealed it under his coat. He turned the doorknob and opened it to the bustling metropolis of Chicago. Andre usually loved the warm summer weather, although today, it was a stretch to call it warm. A cold front had moved in and given a dull overcast that blotted the sun. He walked from his loft and turned down the street. The buildings of the Loop pierced into the grey sky above him and he silently gawked at the marvels of engineering and ingenuity around him. Hailing from a small town in the Styx of Kansas from a pair of humble Ukrainian parents make one tend to gawk at the city from time to time. One could call the Loop the pulsing nerve-center of Chicago and housed the many businesses that fueled it, both legitimate and otherwise. Andre looked into the dilapidated storefront that once supported the entire area with its poison of choice. The windows of the once busy liquor store were covered in dust and had lost their sheen, such to a point that Andre could not see his own reflection. Ever since the passing of the Volstead Act; prohibition was the law of the land and no alcohol has been sold in stores since.

"What a waste." Andre muttered as he continued to walk down the street. A siren could be heard behind him and he instinctively spun on his heel and saw the source. A police car was barreling down the road; it blitzed past him and turned around the corner, lifting its tires off of the ground in the process. The car skidded off to the side, hitting another parked car. The result was a pair of accordioned vehicles and people rushing to the accident to render aid. Andre ignored the chaos and resumed his path. The police were now attempting to crack down on the illegal importation of alcohol and they were stretched so thin they could not keep up the criminal underworld. Andre simply shook his head and continued on. A quarter of an hour later, the street sign signifying he had arrived at Lakeshore drive was just ahead. He took a quick glance around and saw exactly what he was looking for. A man in a trench coat opened the door from an Italian restaurant and walked across the street to a park. The somewhat rotund man sat down at a bench with a newspaper. Andre walked past and pretended to tie his shoe.

"Why hello, Mr. Zacherov." Said the man in a distinct Sicilian accent

"My pleasure, Mr. Rouliani, so what is the new business arrangement you wanted to discuss?"

"We have been approached by a very lucrative benefactor in Europe, he has made a few, call them distinct requests."

"Such as?"

"Do you like dogs?" Rouliani took an envelope out of his coat and handed it to Andre. Inside was a newspaper photo of a pair of sled teams with some of the dogs circled in a red pen. Also in the envelope was a plane ticket to Anchorage, Alaska.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: All over again

Nome June 6, 1929

Balto was shaken awake by Jenna; who had spent the night in the boat with him.

"Hmm? What?" He yawned as he resisted the urge to close his eyes again.

"Balto, are you awake?" She asked her face filled his view. He had a quick debate in his head whether to stare into her eyes or to fall back into sleep. The debate ended when his eyelids drooped.

"Maybe, not really." Balto laid his head back down while he flipped the brown blanket back over his head with a paw.

"Well then get awake; we need to go into town for our day job." Balto mulled it over again and surrendered, he stood, leaving the soft cushion of the bed.

"You know, we see them more than they do." Balto said, stretching out all of the sleep in him, or most of it at least.

"The two of them have to help deliver the mail, besides I thought you enjoyed it?"

"I do, but if we keep this up much longer I'll need to tape my eyes open." Balto half joked. Above him he heard a honking snore.

"At least we have Boris to fall back on." Jenna looked up to the snoozing goose in his basket.

"I think he quit after the last batch." Balto said with a smile.

"Come on, we had best get going." Jenna said tugging on his tail.

"Huh, no use putting it off. Um Jenna, aren't you forgetting something?"

"Like what?" She noticed she was minus her scarf and began to look around for it. Balto soon found it lying on the floor next to the bed, right where he left it.

"Let me give you a paw with that." Balto picked it up in his mouth and slipped it on to her. As he did, a guilty smile danced over her face and she nuzzled him.

"Thanks, let's get a move on." They both walked through the open door and into Alaska. The first signs of summer where finally coming around, the air had a sweat sent and the birds chirped in the far off woods. Even though it was early June; a cold front had parked itself over the whole area and a respectable layer of somewhat slushy snow still covered the ground. Balto preferred the warmer seasons in Nome and enjoyed the spring flowers. But the scenery would have to wait for now, the two of them had a job to do. The walk to town was the same as it always was. The sun glinted off of the melting snow and highlighted the landscape, giving the whole area a sense of tranquility.

"You know it's not too late to go back." Balto said, hoping his luck would hold out. Jenna shot him a look that killed that hope. "I guess not." They walked into town. Nome had grown in the last couple of months. New businesses had moved in and set up shop in the once sleepy backwater. Cars chugged up and down the streets that were once exclusive to sleds. They passed by the old butcher shop and the smoke coming from the back signaled that the butcher was smoking some meat. Balto could smell the fresh venison and slowed his pace.

"Hungry?"Jenna asked, noticing his distraction.

"Maybe a little, I guess I'm a little addicted to the food I was eating during the race."

"With Duke's cooking I'm surprised you're still alive." Jenna remarked.

"It wouldn't be me if it didn't involve some danger." he retorted.

"You're impossible." Jenna conceded and continued walking. They walked down the street and turned into an alleyway with the backyards of homes on either side.

"Ok, so, which one was her's again?" Balto asked.

"Really? How many times have we come here in the last six weeks and you still have to ask?"

"Just keeping you on your toes."

"The second one on the left." Jenna sighed out. They began to walk down the alley when a tremendous barking came from over the other side.

"Hey, Victor, do us a favor and put a cork in it will ya!" Balto yelled over the fence. He came up to a hole in the wood and saw an unhappy looking Rottweiler on the other side.

"Keep walking wolf boy." Victor growled.

"Oh Victor," Jenna began. "Still sticking to words under three syllables?"

"I wasn't talking to you, wolf-lover." he shot back, his growling turned into a snarl. Balto jumped between them and stared Victor down.

"Victor, I'm only gonna say this once so I'll make it simple, Leave. Jenna. Alone." Victor looked like he was going to pop a blood vessel and Balto took a carful note of his stance, ready to dodge the first strike.

"Balto, he's not worth it." Jenna said over his shoulder.

"You're absolutely right." They continued on their way despite the barking and bluster behind them.

"What is with that guy, wasn't his boy in the hospital with diphtheria when you brought in the medicine?"

"He was, but Victor is, well, I'm not sure what he is." Balto shook his head.

"How about an ignorant bastard?" Jenna chuckled.

"Hey, watch that potty mouth; or I'll have to wash it out with soap." Balto returned with a laugh.

"Practicing?" Jenna asked laughing with him

"We have had all the practice we need." They came up to the next house and jumped onto a pile of crates and barrels and over the fence. They made their way to the back porch and saw six small fur balls charging at them.

"Mapi! Papi!" the gaggle of pups exclaimed as they surrounded Balto and Jenna. Dusty and Kodi's pups resembled their parents perfectly, save one. Suki was a snow white pup with mischevious green eyes that made Balto think of his mother on occasion. Her pure white coat had earned her the native word for snow, it fit her well. She happily jumped up and down, giggling as all children always do.

"Papi! Tell us a story!"

"Ok, Suki, Ok. Let me see, what kind of story. Alright I've got one. It started here in Nome and ended at the top of the world." Balto began to tell the story he had told them at least three times. Across town, another pair of dogs were welcoming a break in their own chore of love. Daisy and Steele had been busily managing four rambunctious pups for the last day strait and poor Steele wished Jake would share the coffee.

"They are finally asleep." Daisy whispered.

"Thank goodness, I feel more like a log than a dog." Steele said as he laid down on the rug, every muscle from his nose to the tip of his tail resounded in a dull ache and he thought he would not even stand for a grilled steak if one was tossed in front of him. Jake gave him a quick scratch on the ears as he to doze off. Rowdy came into the room and sat down next to his snoozing buddy.

"He's out like a light." he said.

"Ya, well you will be to after your shift Rowdy."

"Great, get some sleep. I'll look after the little ones." He said in his usual, calm voice.

"Thank you." She said as she rested her head on Steele's back.

"What are friends for?" He got up and walked down the stairs to see a set of pups curled together. He took a look and noticed that there were only three asleep.

"One, two, three. Wait, where's Loki?" Just then he felt a set of needles attack his tail. He whirled around and saw the assailant, none other than Loki. Rather large for his age of only two months, he was the largest of the liter. His teeth, like all pup teeth, were quite sharp; a fact Rowdy was well acquainted with.

"Was that absolutely necessary?" Rowdy asked with a pained smile.

"I'm sorry Uncle Rowdy, I can't help it." The pup said meekly.

"I think I know why." Rowdy said under his breath, he knew because of his mother, Loki and his brothers and sister were part wolf like Balto's children, due to his mother. He also knew it was not his place to tell them that fact. Most locals still detested wolves even though Balto had made a good name for himself and his family.

"Can we play a game?" the pup was still full of energy despite his being up for almost 24 hours.

"Sure, but if I win you have to go to sleep." Loki nodded avidly in response. "We can play one of my favorite games." Rowdy had an idea.

"Really! What is it?"

"It's called Tackle-Puppy!" With that Rowdy pounced on Loki and picked him up by the collar.

"I win." Loki kicked away at him for an answer. "Hey there, a deals a deal. Bed time."

"Fine, I want a rematch tomorrow!" The pup didn't know how to quit.

"Okay, I'll let the ref know." Rowdy plopped him in the huddle of pups and Loki's tiredness overcame him and his eyes closed. Rowdy was glad he had nap-time duty. He wondered if the clock would run down before the monsters reawake.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Opportunities

Anchorage April 6, 1929

Anchorage was a bitterly cold place; and Andre could say the same for the rest of the state. He disembarked the plane he had been on for the last day. As he came down the gang plank with his two heavy suitcases, he saw a man standing next to a large black car. The man was holding a sign that read:

**Mr. Zacherov, complements of Chicago.**

Andre strolled to the street and the man folded the sign and put it in the glove's compartment. When he finished, he turned and gave a slight bow.

"Welcome to Alaska sir, my name is Jefferson, I have been instructed to give you a quick tour around town and then take you to any place of your choosing." As he finished his exposition, he opens the door to the rear of the car and then picked up the two suitcases.

"Allow me sir." Andre thanked him and climbed in. After a pair of loud thunks of the heavy suitcases settling into the trunk and then the sound of the trunk closing, Jefferson climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. The town itself was not too bad, dozens of mom and pop shops and tiny restaurants on the shore. Everything covered in a thin layer of snow.

"Winter has been kinda stubborn this year." Jefferson said as he drove, "I heard it is worse up north though."

"Terrific," Andre hated the cold, and hated the snow more. "I need you to take me to this address." Andre reached into his coat and took out a slip of paper. Jefferson took the paper and quickly studied it.

"Hmm, if I remember correctly, this address is in the warehouse district. Are you in the import/export business sir?"

"You could say I handle the specialty items. My employer maintains dozens of these warehouses all over the country for them."

"I see, my brother is in the business as well, from what I hear the trade has some serious competition."

"Deferentially, it's practically cutthroat." Andre chuckled to himself. The car sped over the bumpy street and made its way to the dockyard warehouse. Jefferson opened the door and handed Andre his suitcases.

"Thank you Mr. Jefferson." Andre walked to the warehouse door shuttered open. Inside three men sat at a table playing a game of poker, they stood and greeted him. Jefferson sped off in the car.

"Hey boss!" Said one in a rather emasculate voice. Andre sized up all of them. The one who just spoke was somewhat short and had a lump in his jacket, presumably a large handgun. The taller one next to him wore a turtle-neck sweater and had a green snow cap on his head with a monogrammed Anthony on it. The last one, a man his own height with a bald head and an extended belly. Andre recognized the trio immediately; they were the best group of thieves, safecrackers and smugglers in the entire Outfit.

"Hello gentlemen. Rico, I imagine by your enthusiasm that your little fact-finding mission was a success?" Andre asked the shorter man. In return Rico took out a stack of photos and laid them on the poker table.

"All of the targets are all there. Too bad we can only take a couple, we could make a killing." he said. Andre looked at the photos and saw the one's Chicago wanted.

"These three, those are guys the higher-ups want."

"A'ighty boss-man, there is one other small twist." Anthony stated.

"Like what Tony?" The fat man moved another photo out of the stack.

"These Andre." the photo was of two adults and half dozen pups.

"These could make grabbing them difficult." he said.

"No, in fact Jimmy, those little monsters are a new opportunity." Andre cracked a wicked smile.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Happy Days

Nome April 7, 1929

The thawing snow may as have been clay on Kodi's feet, he had now taken the position of lead dog for the mail team and had trained with his father intensely beforehand. He took a look over his shoulder to check on Dusty, of whom, had just gotten back into the mail team now that the pups had been weaned.

"What are you looking at? Keep your eyes on the road." Kodi snapped his head forward and thankfully so as he barely missed a log. "I told you so."

"I'm not going to hear the end of that for the rest of the day." Kodi mumbled to himself, backseat driver. The quaint town of Nome once again came into view over the hill and they made the last turn into the Post Office. Sampson, the musher, dismounted the sled and heaved the heavy mailbags over his shoulder. After he came back out, he unhooked each of the dogs. Kodi and Dusty trotted home to see Balto and Jenna passed out on the rug with six small pups scattered about them. Suki had even made a bed out of Balto as she was on his back. Boris and Stella flapped in from behind and looked around the room; Boris looked up at Kodi.

"You know, you and your brothers and sisters were never this well behaved." Boris said as he remembered the day he agreed to watch them as they were teething, he let out a shutter. Balto was awoken by all of the new activity but didn't move and hoped to fall back asleep.

"They take after their mom." Kodi said, winking to Dusty.

"Uh huh, you better believe it buster." Dusty said as she gave Kodi a whipping on the side with her tail.

"They are so cute," Stella began "Boris, why can't we have something cute?"

"Oh boy, um we talk about this later, ya?" Boris was hoping to avoid talking about that in front of Balto and Kodi.

"If I have anything to say about it, we will be doing more than talking." By now, Balto had given up hope that they would let them sleep and stood up.

"Okay, that is enough of that." Balto said, dropping a hint. Just like him, Jenna gave up the charade of sleep and tried not to wake up the pups.

"Good to see you guys back." Jenna whispered to them.

"Good to be back." Kodi returned.

"We had best let them sleep son." Balto quietly said to Kodi.

"Good idea." Kodi saw Suki still on Balto, fast asleep. "But how will we get her off of you?"

"I'll think of something." As Balto thought of a way to get Suki down without waking her, Kodi accidentally stepped on Boris's flipper.

"Yeow!" Boris jumped up so fast he hit his head on a shelf. Between the shout and the loud thud of a goose bouncing off the walls, all of the pups were now wide awake and making their high-pitched barks that announced it to anyone unfortunate enough to be in the neighborhood.

"Oops, my fault." Kodi guiltily said, with a sheepish look.

"Hey Jenna, remember that thing we needed to do?" Balto decided now was the best time to bail out.

"Oh, yes that thing! Sorry guys we gotta go." Both of them quickly walked out the doorway.

"Hey, Balto, how about I give you helping wing?" Boris didn't wait for an answer, he just ran out after them, Stella came in close pursuit, chastising all of them, but still beating a hasty retreat. Now all that were left were Kodi, Dusty, and a few very vocal pups.

"Thanks guys!" Dusty called after them. "We had best get to work." She said with a happy smirk. The rest of their day was filled with barking, biting and the occasional puppy mistake. Even though it was not the easiest thing in the world, both of them thrived on a challenge. Balto's day however was much more relaxed. He and Jenna walked back to the boat and curled up in the large dog bed in the corner to the living room. Above the bed were all of Balto's heroics, each one captured in time by photos, newspaper articles and mementos. His favorite was the large medal that hung in the center of the newspapers. The medal he had won for reaching the North Pole, given to him by a famous explorer and a symbol of his bond to his friends. This corner also housed the trophy that Duke won which fit well next to his silver star from the army. Balto took one last quick look at the wall then curled up next to Jenna. Sleep found him astoundingly swiftly and before he knew it, hours had passed. The all too familiar sound of an airplane engine pierced his dreamland and he heard the door open and close. He lifted his head and saw Duke, who was holding a large fish over his shoulder. Duke knelt down and rubbed Balto's ears.

"Hey boy, did you miss me?" He looked over to the bed and saw Jenna. "I guess you had plenty to do while I was gone, didn't you?" Balto just smiled and wagged his tail as to say yes. He got up and followed Duke into the kitchen, silently hoping for him to accidentally drop the fish and give away some free sushi.

"Hey Duke, you home buddy?" yelled a voice from outside. Duke opened a window and saw Jake Everett standing outside. The scruffy Canadian waved up at the porthole and Duke waved back. Jake was Duke's closest human friend and Jake was always around for a good time.

"Hiya pal." Duke yelled out.

"Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted." Jake strolled in.

"Good to see you bud, still see you have the ferret on your face." Duke jibbed, referencing the rough beard that Jake maintained year long.

"What can I say; I like to keep my face warm." All of the noise had also brought Jenna back to planet Earth; she walked up next to Balto and sat down next to him. Jake noticed the salmon on the counter. "I see the fishing trip went well." Jake said. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to come to a barbecue, Simpsons throwin' it."

"As long as Simpson is doing the grilling, I'm game. I remember the last time you handed me a steak turned hockey puck." Duke chuckled.

"One mistake and you are shunned for life, I'm heart-broken. But you're right, my cooking would kill us." He began to leave and his typical impatience surfaced. "Let's go, grab Balto and Jenna, free food for those guys too."

"So Jenna what do you say to free food?" Balto asked.

"You find me one dog on the planet that will say no to a steak." She was already halfway out the door. The walk to Simpson's house wasn't far. Simpson's abode was a large wooden cabin just outside of town. Behind it, a trail of smoke and the smell of hickory signaled the barbecue was just getting started. As they approached the place, the smell of cooking meat permeated the atmosphere and made Balto want to drool. A bonfire was in back and a few hot dogs already sat on skewers over it. The barbecue itself was an open invitation for a good time, but the company was none too bad. All of the mushers in town had come for Simpson's little shindig. Jake spied a few ladies around and elbowed Duke, winking and gesturing out an hourglass with his hands. Duke just shook his head and laughed. Jake pulled up a pair of chairs to a table and Jake pulled out a deck of cards.

"You a fan of poker Duke?" Jake asked holding up the cards.

"Are you kidding? How do you think we passed the time in the army?" Jake smiled and began to shuffle

"Hey toss me a hand." Simpson pulled up another chair and sat down. Jake finished shuffling and cut the cards. Then a crunch of snow was heard behind him.

"You know son that is technically illegal." It was Sheriff O'Neal, a living, breathing throwback to a western lawman.

"Um, well uh." Jake was scrabbling for an answer. The Sheriff reached into his jacket and Duke was expecting a pair of handcuffs, what he presented was a glass bottle full of amber liquid and placed in on the table.

"Then again, so is this, deal me in fellas." the good sheriff was always one for jokes. He sat down and removed his Stetson and placed it on the table.

Ahh, come on O'Neal, you practically gave him a heart attack." Duke said as he laughed.

"What, it's a time-honored tradition of me scaring the pants off the new guy." The sheriff burst out laughing and he nearly fell backwards. "Besides, I don't think Kodiak would forgive me."

"Yeah, hey Rob, how are those pups doing?" Jake asked.

"Pretty well considering the cold summer. My son and Dusty's girl worked out a deal for taking care of 'em. How about yours?"

"About the same, but I would wish Loki would stop eating my shoes. Daisy and her folks are taking off on a vacation down to Vancouver tomorrow morning so I get to look after them for a bit." Now at ease, Jake cut and dealt the cards. Balto watched the four play and Steele came in next to him.

"Thinking of joining in?"

"Sorry, I only gamble with my life." Balto said, even though they had been back in town for months, it still felt somewhat strange talking to Steele without bearing teeth.

"I hear you; just don't say that around the girls, I swear, Jenna and Daisy have super-sonic hearing."

"No kidding." both got up and walked to the fire, where many other dogs had gathered. Balto saw many of his friends, and a few of his detractors. He laid down with Jenna and his family, along with Steele and Daisy. Balto even saw Muk and Luk with Boris. The two wayward and haphazard bears had been adopted by the town and had become some kind of mascots for the townsfolk. Which meant that they spent more time around their Uncle Boris, who was well on his way to getting turned into an accordion by Muk. As they shared more stories about the race and what had happened since, some growling began further away. Balto saw the source of the growling, it was Victor, the friendly neighborhood Rottweiler.

"Hey, Vic, what's got your motor running?" Steele asked, oblivious to the icy relationship between Victor and Balto.

"Shut up Steele, you have no right to be here either. You, going around with that half-breed." Victor snarled in Daisy's direction.

"That half-breed is right here." Daisy spat out, stifling the urge to put Victor in his place.

"Was I talking to you? I didn't think so." Victor was apparently in one of his moods.

"Victor, we don't need to hate each other." Balto was hoping to calm him down before things became heated. "There was a time when Steele and I could not be near each other either, we forgave and made up for it. Is this necessary?"

"Without a doubt. Wild animals like you don't belong here."

"Where is here?" Balto asked incredulously, Victor was getting on his nerves.

"Near people, you are a danger to everyone here and I am the only one here who sees it!" Victor seemed as if he could explode with fury at this point.

"Whoa, take it easy Vic." Steele tagged in. "Balto might not be perfect, but I know this. He saved this town, he loves his family and he deserves the right to be here as anyone else. I figured that out the hard way."

"You see Steele that is what I mean, you are soft and weak. I liked you better when you had some bite."

"I'm sorry Victor; you are wrong, dead wrong." Steele just turned and laid back down next to Daisy.

"You are blind in your faith to these two things, they will turn one day. When that day comes, don't come crying to me." Victor turned and left them. The black dog disappeared around a corner and was gone. Behind Balto, Muk made a series of noises and Luk interpreted.

"Yes you are right, not very sociable chap is he?"

"Not by a long shot." Daisy snapped.

"He does know that all dogs are descendents of wolves right?" Jenna asked.

"Sometimes I wonder." Steele said "It's kind of hard to believe that I used to agree with that guy."

"Well, you came around, maybe he will too." Saba said.

"Maybe." Steele said flatly. The rest of the evening passed without much outburst except for a few from the poker table when a player came up with a winning hand on a large bet. After the food was all eaten by both man and dog and the moon shown high in the night sky did the merriment finally end. Duke and Balto found their way home and the door to the boat opened. The first thing they noticed upon entering was the air was stale inside, one of the negatives of having a home made entirely of oak. Duke opened a window to let in the cool night air. After that he walked into his room. Boris flew through the window and sat down in the basket he called his nest.

"Hey boychik, is something wrong? You look like someone tied weight to your nose."

"I'm fine, maybe just a little tired from watching the pups."

"Really." Boris knew Balto better than anybody in Nome, and he knew Balto was a terrible liar.

"Really." Balto collapsed onto his bed and fell fast asleep.

"Sleep tight kiddo." Boris quietly said.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Job

Nome, April 7, 1929

The tranquil silence of the night air was shattered by the shrillest of howls. It jolted Balto out of sleep, he recognized the howl immediately. He flung the blanket off of him and quickly stood. He jumped on top of the cabinet nearly knocking off Boris's basket and out the window. Boris was now also up after saying his basket from going overboard. Boris poked his head out the open window and called after Balto.

"Balto where do you think you are going?"

"Family." with that he bolted off in the direction of town. Duke was also awoken by the howl; he saw Balto darting off and instinctively switched on his light and opened the drawer next to his bed. Inside was his souvenir from the First World War, .45 army pistols in a leather holster. He snatched it up; threw on some clothes and put on his jacket. Next thing he knew he was running through the darkness with a flashlight and following a line of tracks after Balto had made in the soft snow.

Ten minutes earlier

Kodi had only just fallen asleep when he heard Victor barking, again. The sheriff had departed for his office in the center of town after the barbecue and Kodi had returned home. Kodi begrudgingly got up and walked out to the window that faced the street. Sure enough, Victor was barking up a storm and had probably managed to wake up half the street. Kodi was about to tell him to eat his tail and shut his mouth when he heard the window on their side of the room slid open. Kodi spun on his heel and saw two men climbing through it. The first one pulled out a net. Kodi ran at one and barked at him. Tony backed up and ran into Jimmy, who was still trying to work his fat body through the window. Jimmy fell and landed in the snow, dropping the shotgun he had brought with him as he fell. Kodi took the initiative and ran out the other window and onto the roof. Tony looked down into the snow were Jimmy fell. The man had fallen in a thankfully high snow drift and did not appear to be injured; he did make a wonderful snow angel however.

"Hey Jimmy, you good?" In response, Jimmy held up a hand with a thumb sticking up. He then switched the gesture his had made to something else. "Now that is just rude." Tony left Jimmy and turned back to his work. He squeezed through the other window and followed Kodi onto the roof. The red dog was on the opposite side of the building and was standing there waging his tail, Tony could swear he was smirking. Tony knew he had the dog cornered. He began to thunder across the slanted roof.

"Nowhere to run you stupid-" Tony stepped on the wrong patch of slushy snow and ice. The frozen mix slid out from underneath him and he went right after it. Tony tumbled down off of the roof and landed in the snow below. Kodi jumped off of the roof and caught the clothesline on the way, riding the line to the ground. Jimmy had stumbled around the corner odd the house and saw Kodi; Kodi saw the shotgun and bolted for the fence. He leapt over and cleared the five foot tall planks of wood. Jimmy ran to Tony and helped him up.

"Which way did he go?" Tony asked, still a bit dazed from falling off a building.

"He jumped the fence come on!" They opened the gate and saw Kodi jumping across the fence on the other side of the street.

"What is this thing a sled dog or an Olympic high-jumper?" Jimmy asked himself. The very second Victor saw Kodi jumping over the fence he started to growl.

"What do you think you are doing here?" Victor asked as Kodi landed.

"Playing a game of tag. What do you think!? I don't run from strange men with nets on a normal basis." Kodi was surprised at this dog's ignorance. "Do a fellow dog a favor and keep them away for a while."

"Dog is a stretch, but I like them less than you." Kodi took that as a yes and made a very high pitched howl.

"What in the world was that?" Victor said covering his ears.

"Distress call; keep my new friends busy while I get Dusty and the pups."

"Alright, get your kids and go." Kodi turned away and made for a back alley that led to the next house where Dusty lived. "You owe me one wolf boy."

"Bill me." Kodi made his way up to the room that housed Dusty and the pups. His howl had done its job. She was up and checking the pups, she counted six and turned to him.

"What is going on?" She asked.

"I wish I knew." He heard a crash outside and then more of Victor's thunderous barking. "We need to go, now!" He darted back towards the window and saw Victor taking a bite out of crime as he chased the two around the yard. Kodi was never so happy to live next to Victor in his life. All eight of them slinked around the corner and to safety. Victor continued to fight off the attackers; he leapt on the fat one and bit his leg. Jimmy threw him off and swung at him with a two by four that was lying next to him. Victor deftly dogged the piece of wood and tackled the man again. This time Victor rammed him in the chest and heard a cracking noise. A loud yelp of pain issued from Jimmy and he fell down. Victor completely forgot about the other. Tony came up behind him and picked Victor up.

"Gotcha." Tony said in a gruff voice. He heaved Victor, who flew across the yard and into a woodpile; the guard dog hit his head and blacked out. Tony walked over to his compatriot and looked him over.

"Jimmy, you there?" Tony asked, looking him over, the injuries weren't too severe; he could still do his job. Jimmy came to but was still in rather lucid.

"I ha fogs."

"Wha did ya say?" Tony asked, softly slapping Jimmy's cheek to bring him around.

"I said; I really hate dogs!" Jimmy hit Tony in the chest with the butt of the shotgun. "Get offa me you guerrilla!"

"Right, sorry." Both where now up and after the tracks in the snow. Kodi and Dusty herded their pups through the backyards and tight alleys of Nome. They knew the best advantage they had over the men behind them was the fact that the map of the town was ingrained in them. It was the best and only tool they had to keep their family safe. As they found their way through a cluttered side street, they heard the sound of footfalls behind them. Fearing the worst, they ducked under a pile of crates and Dusty pulled a tarp over them all. The footfalls came closer and closer, and then they stopped. The trap ruffled and Kodi sprang up, ready to attack when he saw Balto's face pop in.

"Finally, I found you." Kodi bounded out and was glad his father had shown up in the nick of time.

"I'm glad you got my message." he said, shaking off the tarp.

"How couldn't I? I spent months pounding that thing in to your head." Balto said, relived his ounce of prevention had saved him pounds of cure. "It won't mean a thing if whatever is chasing you catches up. We need to get moving. If we can make it to the sheriff, we have a fighting chance."

"We're right behind you." Dusty said. They got back to work, moving as quickly as possible without making too much noise. Once again, Balto's wolf instincts came in handy; he walked with one paw directly in front of another, making only one track and hugging the building. Making him seem smaller and harder to spot. The others followed suit and managed to stay relatively quiet no mean feat if you are the equivalent of a year old human child. After stealthily snaking through the town, they came out near the main street. This street was wide and open as it was the primary thoroughfare. It was dominated by two buildings. One was the town hall and the other was the hospital. Fifty feet down on the opposite side of the street was the sheriff and the safety therein. Balto began to move when he saw two men stumble into the middle of the street. One large one with a net and a fat one with a shotgun.

"I take it dumb and dumber out there are the reason we are running for our lives right?" Balto asked. Kodi poked his head around the corner and saw his playmates in their path.

"That would be them." he affirmed.

"Well that is just great." Dusty said. "How are we supposed to make it to the sheriff now? They can just shoot us."

"I don't think so." Kodi said. "See the big guy there, that net was meant for me, I think they are here to take us, not kill us."

"Then it's not too far to guess they're after me too." Balto said. "Dusty, if Kodi and I can make a distraction, can you get to the sheriff with the pups?"

"Wait, you're trying to tell me you are going to use yourselves as live bait?" she returned.

"More or less. Can you make it though?" Dusty didn't answer; she was too busy lost in the number of unfavorable scenarios.

"I will certainly try." She finally responded.

"That will have to do. Come on Kodi, it's show time." Balto ran out into the street with Kodi behind him.

"Hey, Tony look it's the other dog we came for! Let's get 'em!" Tony charged the two dogs. Dusty herded the pups in the direction of the sheriff's office. They all sprinted across the street, all while watching the mayhem ensue. Tony tried his luck and swung the net to grab Balto. He swiftly dodged it and ran past Tony, now behind him, Balto taunted the large man with a pair of sharp barks. He may have over done it just a tad; Tony whirled around and hit Balto with the net, knocking him over. The net came down over him and he was caught like a rat in a trap.

"Now you're mine." he said. Suddenly, Tony felt a pain in his leg and saw the other dog biting him.

"Ahh, get off." Tony kicked Kodi away and sent him end over end into the snow. Tony lifted up the net with poor Balto inside. They had lost the battle, but at least Dusty made it to the sheriff's office. She turned and took a last minute head count. She saw five pups in front of her; she counted again and came up one short. She frantically looked around and saw Suki hiding behind a crate. Unfortunately, her hiding spot was a poor one. Jimmy snatched her up by the scruff of her neck.

"Hey look, a bonus!" The man held her roughly and she began to softly whimper. At the sound of this, an uncontrollable anger welled up in Dusty. She charged him and all seventy pounds of her impacted him at top speed; his weapon and his captive were knocked out of his hands. Both of them were sent tumbling into the slushy snow underfoot. Jimmy felt a hot jolt of pain in his leg as he hit the ground. Dusty was not yet finished with him. She clawed and hit at him, attempting to do her best to cause as much damage as possible. Jimmy turned over, fighting off the angry jaws inches from his face. He kicked her away and made enough room to pick up his weapon and level it at her.

"This will learn you." She sat like a deer in the headlights of a car and waited for the flash.

"No!" A red blur dove into Dusty and covered her over. The report of the gun sounded and Kodi felt dozens white hot pin-pricks burn into his shoulder.

"Jimmy, you moron, don't shoot! You'll have every yokel with a gun out here!" Tony's warning came too late, the sheriff burst out of his office with a revolver in his hand and Tony also saw someone else in a brown jacket with a gun of his own.

"You there! Stop in the name of the law!" O'Neal shouted.

"Let's get the heck outtalk here!" Tony made a break for the side alley they had come from and scooped up the pup Jimmy had found on the way. Jimmy tried to run, but his encounter with Victor earlier had begun to take its toll and the fact that Dusty had used him as her person chew toy had not help his situation. Another solid and sharp pain shot out of his leg and he fell over. He dropped the empty shotgun and it skidded away. The sheriff ran over to him and pointed his revolver at him.

"Now, do yourself a favor and don't move." Jimmy just held up his hands in surrender. O'Neal saw Duke running towards him with a handgun. "Go after that other guy, he has Balto." Duke didn't even slow down, he charged past them and kept running. Tony found out it was hard to run quickly while holding a ninety pound dog in a net over his shoulder and a small wiggling pup in his other hand. He did have good reason to beat-feet however, mostly the furious Duke behind him.

"Stop!" Duke yelled. "Stop or I'll fire!" Duke knew he couldn't fire at Tony for fear of Balto and Suki, so he fired a round into the air. The gunshot startled Tony, but he kept on running. Duke could tell where they were headed, the place he was all too familiar with, the airstrip. The two of them snaked their way though alleys and over fences and sure enough, the airstrip was in front of them. Duke saw a tri-motor plane readying to take-off. Next to the plane were two men guarding a cage. Even though Duke was a hundred feet away, he could see the distinctive black and white of Steele and the grey of Loki next to him. Tony looked over his shoulder and saw Duke still hot on his tail.

"Boss! We gotta go! Cops are coming!" Tony yelled. That was all Andre and Rico needed to hear as they both drew their guns and fired at Duke. He dove behind a pyramid barrels and the bullets flew past. Duke fired back, but only clipped the side of the plane. Tony loaded Balto and Suki into a cage like the one that housed Steele and Loki and was hastily tossed it into the plane like luggage, next came up Steele and his pup. Then came the men, firing away as they boarded. The door closed and Balto felt something sharp in his back, a needle. Then he became drowsy and slipped into unconsciousness. Outside, Duke fired every remaining shot at the plane to no avail. The plane took off and flew away with his best friend. After shouting a mouthful of obscenities, Duke remembered the scene outside the sheriff's office and his thoughts turned to Kodi, and to the man who shot him. He sprinted back to see the sheriff carrying Kodi across the street to the hospital and the man handcuffed to a post with a deputy watching his every move. Duke ran into the hospital and joined O'Neal. He saw Kodi on a gurney and a pair of doctors began to look him over. One looked at O'Neal and gave a curt nod then took Kodi away. Duke walked to O'Neal and asked the burning question.

"Is he-?"

"He'll live, thankfully it was only birdshot." It was the first good thing he heard all night.

"What the hell would these bastards want with dogs?" Duke asked.

"I'm not sure, but I know how I can find out." O'Neal briskly walked outside. The former jolly poker player was replaced by stone.

"Wait for me; I have some questions of my own." Duke marched after the sheriff.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 More Questions than Answers

Alaskan Airspace, April 7, 1929

At 2000 feet in the air, the outside chill was staved off by the heater in the plane, and the hot tempers on board.

"Where the heck is Jimmy, and who was that guy back there?" Rico bellowed at Tony, which made his already high voice jump up an octave.

"Jimmy got pinched and as for the other guy, who gives a rat's pittute. All care about was he was shooting at me, I didn't exactly stop to have a chit-chat." Tony retorted.

"What do you mean Jimmy got himself pinched?" Rico was amazed, not in a decade had Jimmy seen the inside of a jail, now he was in one over a bunch of dogs.

"He and I ended up in the wrong back yard and got attacked by a friggin' Rottweiler. The blasted thing bit him on the leg and he couldn't run. Then some other dog went after him later, it chewed him up pretty good. Last I saw of him was his fat-ass falling on the ground."

"Well that is just great, I told you Andre, we should have packed more tranquilizers but no, "They aren't necessary Rico. We're just going after a couple of dumb dogs Rico", well they would have bloody well come in handy!" he shouted at Andre, who stood a full head taller than the spunky Italian.

"Shut it Rico, how much does Jimmy know?" Andre asked.

"He knows enough." Tony answered.

"Terrific, just wonderful, now what are we supposed to do?" Rico asked. Andre sat with his chin resting on his hands, after quickly thinking through a plethora of possible outcomes, he decided.

"We make our delivery, and then we tell the boss what happened and let him sort things out."

"Works for me." Tony finally said.

"Poor Jim." Rico said under his breath as he sat down on the hard metal seat of the cargo plane.

Back in Nome

Sheriff O'Neal half-walked, half-dragged Jimmy into the office and sat him down in a room.

"Buster, I'm not sure how many laws you broke tonight, but I do know it is enough to lock you away for a very, very long time."

"Lawyer." was all Jimmy had to say to the sheriff.

"Alright, but you will have to wait until morning."O'Neal put his hands up in frustration.

"Lawyer." he repeated. O'Neal leaned in and looked the crook strait in the eye

"Suit yourself." O'Neal left the room before he exploded in rage. He walked back out to see Duke in the main office, tapping his feet like the tick-tock of a clock while staring at the actual clock on the wall. The hands met at the top and the twelve following soft chimes indicated that it was the witching hour. He shifted his gaze outside just long enough to see a figure stumbling in the street.

"Is that Jake?" Duke asked. He stood up and saw his friend two stepping in the street. At first Duke thought he was drunk but then saw that he was holding a hand to the side of his head. Duke ran outside and caught Jake as he was falling down. O'Neal followed with a drawn weapon, fearing more attackers.

"Jake! Jake what happened?" Duke could now see a large knot on Jake's forehead with a gash on his face.

"They took them." Jake whimpered, "They took Steele, and Loki, they're gone." Jake began to break down and Duke hoisted him up by his shoulder. Satisfied that there was no one else with them, O'Neal returned his gun to its holster and put an arm around Jake as well. They brought Jake in and sat him down in a chair; O'Neal poured a glass of water while Duke took out a first aid kit and went to work on Jake's head. O'Neal returned and gave the water to Jake who accepted it with a shaking hand.

"Ok buddy," Duke began. "Start from the beginning, what happened to Steele and Loki?"

"Alright, alright, I was getting ready to go to bed-"

One hour earlier

Jake laid in his bed and put his book on the table next to him. He flipped off the light and closed his eyes, just as he did, he heard something break downstairs. He rolled his eyes and got out of his bed.

"Next time, I'll take the vacation and Daisy's folks can watch the wrecking crew." He opened the door to his bedroom; Steele and Rowdy shot out between his legs.

"What is with you two?" Jake asked.

"Ya, good question Steele, why are we running like it's a race?" Rowdy disliked having his beauty sleep interrupted.

"I donno, I just have this feeling." Steele answered him. It seemed as if Steele's gut was wrong as they came around the corner to the living room that housed the pups, but then they heard the voices.

"Hey Rico, hurry it up, let's grab these little money bags then grab that big payday upstairs." Andre said impatiently. He put the crow bar he used to break in on the counter.

"I'm working as fast as I can, these fuzz-ballls just don't seem to like me." Said a frustrated Rico as he picked up one whimpering pup and stuffed them into a burlap sack. Steele had seen enough, without thinking twice; he blindly ran at the two men and tackled the one taking his pups. The short man lifted the sack up as a shield. Steel bit into it and tore open a hole; then one of the pups came tumbling out. Andre went to grab it and Rowdy bit the back of the man's black leather jacket. The jacket came off and sent Rowdy stumbling over. It was just enough time for Andre to come around and kick him into a closet. He shut the door and Rowdy began to bark wildly on the other side. Jake was now running down the stairs.

"What are you doing in my house!?" Jake saw Rico wrestling with Steele on the floor and decided to help out, but Andre came in between him and threw a punch. Jake caught it and came back with a jab to the man's face; he followed up with a shot to the abdomen. Andre was tired of playing human punching bag and reached for his gun. Jake saw it coming and slapped it out of his hand. Jake spun and his heel then kicked Andre in the torso, sending him into the counter. Andre picked up his crow bar he had put there earlier and swung it at Jake, hitting him in the head, and summarily knocking him out. Meanwhile, Rico was doing the best he could not to be eaten by Steele; Andre reached into his pocket and took out a needle: he stabbed it into Steele's back; afterwards the powerful dog fell limp.

"You're pathetic." Andre said to Rico. Andre reached down and picked up the gun off of the floor and concealed it once again.

"Fine, next time, I'll lead with the barbital." Rico sent back. He shoved Steele off of him and picked up the sack of puppies. Except all but one of the pups had escaped.

"Aww crap, that mutt tore a hole in this thing!" Rico was not very happy to see a bonus disappear, he was livid to see three slip out of his fingers.

"Then we have one pup, we don't have the time to find the others, let's go." They both walked put the rear door and made for the airstrip.

"That's it." Jake finished. "I had to fill in a couple of points after that guy kissed me with a crow bar, but after I came to, I got Rowdy out of the closet and took him and the rest of the pups up to my room and locked the door." Duke finished wrapping Jake's head with a bandage and put everything away. His demeanor shifted as he thought about Steele and Loki.

"What's up with you?" Jake asked, not knowing about Balto and Suki.

"Jake, I've got some bad news, whoever took them left in a plane, I tried to stop them but they had me out gunned." He held up his empty .45 in reference.

"Son of a-" Jake began to say but decided not to waste the energy. O'Neal tried to give him a bone.

"The good news is, we caught one of 'em, but the fat slob keeps on asking for a lawyer."

"You caught one?" Jake asked.

"Ya he's over in the next room-" That was all Jake needed to hear. He leapt up and practically broke down the door to get at Jimmy. Jake grabbed him by his jacket lapels and shoved him up against the wall.

"Where are they? Tell me!" Jake shouted. Duke ran in and grabbed Jake's arms.

"He can't talk with a broken jaw, get in the other room and cool down." Duke took Jake away and left Jimmy up to O'Neal.

"That man is crazy, I'll press charges and-" Jimmy began to rant

"Shut up and sit down!" O'Neal yelled in a flat baritone. Jimmy complied quickly.

"Keep something in mind, that dog you shot tonight, that is my Kodi. So if you don't tell me what I want to know right now. Duke and myself will go for a long coffee break and give you two some quality alone time." He gave his words a second to sink in and Jimmy's eyes widened. "I knew we could come to an understanding. So let's start at the top." After a few minutes, O'Neal came out of the room and addressed the two men in front of him.

"Well, he didn't say much, but boys, this is bigger than we thought."

"How big?" Duke asked.

"Have you ever heard of the Chicago Outfit?"

"Ya biggest mob in America, why? Oh you gotta be kidding!" Jake's jaw dropped and he sat down on a desk to avoid falling down. "So are you trying to tell me; that a bunch of Italian mobsters broke into my house, hit me with a crow bar, just make off with my dog?" Duke looked like his gears were turning, things began to make sense.

"Think about it, both Balto and Steele are champion race dogs, so are Kodi and Dusty." The pieces of a sinister puzzle were now falling into place.

"I'm going to call in the state troopers and the FBI on this." O'Neal said as he picked up the phone and began to dial.

"Hey sheriff, if fatty back there didn't tell you what we needed to hear, would you have really let Jake go after him?" Duke asked.

"I do what is necessary to keep this place safe." he said back, he finished dialing and put the phone to his ear.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 Just Business

Outside of Chicago April 8, 1929

Balto awoke to a normally well liked feeling, the jostling of a plane as its landing gear hit the ground, but given the circumstances, whatever was next did not have a joyous feel to it. The plane rolled to a stop and the bright light of the day shown in as the door opened. Balto shaded his eyes with a paw as they adjusted to the light outside. The sun was just peeking out from behind a hill into his eyes. He had no reference point to determine east, so he had to guess it was morning. The large man known as Tony picked up Steele's cage, and then came his own. Balto stymied his anger at the sight of his helpless family and his limited ability to help them. Balto feigned sleep and kept it up as he was taken out of the plane. He could see some buildings in the distance, but still had no idea as to his whereabouts. The cage stopped moving and he was put into the trunk of a car. After he was dropped into a glacier only a few months back, he had developed a minor case of claustrophobia. He began to fidget in and he drew too much attention to himself. Balto lost all control and began to bark and whine and the trunk lid began to close.

"Boss! Boss! The big guy is awake!" Rico yelled.

"Gee really, ya think?" Andre called out. He reached into his coat and took out another syringe of sedative. He opened the cage and quickly jabbed Balto in the back of the neck with the needle. At first all it did was anger the wolf dog even more but his barking and other noises eventually ceased.

"Man, that knock-out juice really does the job." Rico praised.

"You better shut it and get in the car or I'll see what kind of job this does on you. Come on, I want to get paid and sleep in a real bed."

"Right boss man!" Rico closed the trunk of the car and took a seat in back. The car sped off and zipped around corners and finally came to a stop nearly an hour later. All three men exited the car and picked up a cage. They walked to their drop off, another unassuming warehouse in a row of unassuming warehouses, at an unassuming dockyard. Andre knocked on the metallic door and a slit opened up.

"Password?" a hidden man asked with a deep voice.

"Your mother, now let me in." Andre scoffed.

"Andre, you know we have these passwords and security for a reason."

"Just open the door." The slit closed and a series of clangs and noises on the other side were followed by an opening door.

"Welcome back to Chicago Mr. Zacherov." the guard waved them in.

"Thank you Gino." Andre and the others walked in. Gino nodded then looked as if he remembered something.

"Oh hey, the boss said he wanted to see you four when you got back. Wait, where's Jimmy? Is he park 'in the car?" Andre cringed slightly at the thought of the boss reaming him out for what happened up north.

"Not exactly, I'll have to explain it to the boss. Tony, take this." Andre handed Tony the cage that contained Steele. They parted ways and Andre walked away. Tony and Rico took the dogs and walked through a pair of open double doors. On the other side was a venerable zoo. The cages that lined the walls contained everything from gazelles to bobcats. While the center housed larger pens in which the larger beasts resided, a pair of hippopotami and an elephant dominated this area. Next to them was a very unhappy-looking Bengal Tiger. Tony stopped and looked her over.

"Hey, I think Gertrude is a little sick." The tiger rushed the cage and swiped at him with her claws. "Never mind, let's go, uh this way." Tony hurried away from the cage and checked himself for any new holes in his side. They now stopped at a cage on wheels, once upon a time; it may have been at home next to the big-top. Both of them opened the cages and slid them all out; the four sleeping dogs flopped into the hay covered ground. Tony closed the heavy wooden lid over the pen and he and Rico turned to leave. The relative calm of the animal pens were unusual for the sheer number and types of animals here. This calm was in a stark contrast to the inside of Mr. Rouliani's office however.

"Pinched? Jimmy got himself pinched?"

"He was attacked by a dog, Tony said it was a Rottweiler and-"

"I don't give a rat's ass if it was a Chihuahua. You never leave someone like Jimmy behind."

"We were being shot at. It was a miracle no one else here got hit. They guy shooting at us was in the army after all." Andre said, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"So? You take that metal thing in your holster and use it! Now I have to go to the big man about Jimmy. That blivit knows too much." Rouliani said with finality.

"Nicky, come on. Do we really need to go to Mr.-"

"Don't you call me Nicky, its Mr. Rouliani to you. And we aren't going to the boss, he is coming here." Andre nearly choked on his coffee. He quickly sat the cup down, and turned to Rouliani.

"How is that even possible; I thought he was in jail."

"Not anymore he ain't."

"So he's coming here." Andre said, pointing at the ground.

"Yes you nimrod, this latest deal is worth almost two hundred g's. Let's just say the investment is worth checking in on."

"When is the big man due?" Andre was uneasy about the boss; he had a short temper and no exception for failure. In response Rouliani just shrugged his shoulders.

"Whenever he decides to show up."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Plan B

Nome, April 8, 1929

The tension inside of the hospital room could be cut with a knife. O'Neal and Duke sat next to Kodi, occasionally glancing at the pristine white bandage on his side. Next to him was Victor, who had earned a few fractures from being catapulted into the lumber pile. Jake opened up the door with a new beanie on his head to cover up the bandages on him. Dusty and Jenna burst through the opening, nearly knocking him over in the process. Both rushed to the bed and jumped on top, Jenna took one look and wished Balto were here; Dusty collapsed into tears.

"Why? Why did he jump in front?" Dusty sobbed out. Jenna comforted her as best she could.

"He loves you Dusty, Balto would have done the same for me and I him."

"But it was me that deserved this; it was my fault Suki wandered off." He face went blank. "And they took her anyway." Dusty began to fall apart. The blanket over Kodi rustled and he awoke from his medically induced nightmare to the one outside of his head. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rowdy hop up to the outside window, then Muk and Luk with Boris and Stella riding Muk.

"It is not your fault Dusty." Kodi said meekly. "The important thing is everyone else is safe, we will find dad and Suki, don't worry."

"How can you say that? All four of them are in who knows where, doing who knows what. And how can you of all tell me not to worry, you were shot!"

"Yes, I was shot, defending my family; that is how I know they'll be fine. They're our family, were pretty tough." Kodi attempted to crack a smile, hopping to cheer her up. Next to them, Victor nodded his head.

"If I have learned anything from knowing you folks is that tough runs in your blood."

"What do you mean?" Jenna asked.

"All of you are tougher than you look and whether I like it or not, you're not much for surrender." Victor said looking at each of them. He then affixed his gaze strait, towards the door, where O'Neal and Duke were having a conversation.

"What kind of pig would do this?" O'Neal said, his voice filled with contempt.

"The same kind that would take puppies from their mothers and celebrate." Duke answered, using his words like daggers. "Sheriff, can we talk to you outside?" he said sticking his thumb over his shoulder at the door.

"Sure fellas." the trio walked out of the room and then out of the hospital. Rowdy saw them leave and peaked around the corner, eavesdropping. Jake closed the outside door and looked O'Neal strait in the eye.

"We're going after them."

"Who?" O'Neal was set off balance by the statement. Duke cut in and his eyes burned with a hot fury.

"You know who, the bastards that took Balto and Steele, the bastards that took pups from their mothers. The bastards who shot your best friend. The Outfit has made my shit-list, and we're going after them."

"What? Are you crazy? These jackanapes are not a street gang; they are the most dangerous organized crime syndicate in America. They have more firepower than the army and they know how to use it to boot."

"Which is why we want your help, you interrogated that fat guy Jimmy. What did he tell you?"

"Not much, just that he was 'affiliated with a certain Outfit in Chicago' and that he was a smuggler. After that, he clammed up real tight and went back to asking for a lawyer."

"Let us talk to him." Jake said.

"Jake, I love Kodi, and Balto and the others. You two are like my sons, but I will not let you go after that man, mobster or no. I already called in the cavalry; they need him to talk to him."

"O'Neal, we need to do this, I won't just stand by and let someone else handle it. These guys made this personal." Jake spoke as if he was chewing on iron. "We have a fresh source of information in your jail cell over there. Those two have saved our lives more than I would like to say, we owe them this much. That man is our best and only way to get our friends back."

"And how do you intend to do that?"

"Like you said, we need to do what is necessary to keep this place safe."

"Good gawd." The sheriff put his hands on his hips. "Alright fine, I may as well help, you two knuckleheads will do it anyway, but like I said, I already called in the Marshalls to take him tomorrow. If you are going to do what needs done, the time is now. Also, I can't be involved in what you two do; so know this, if you are caught, I'll be the one arresting you." Despite O'Neal's warning, Duke and Jake stood as resolute as redwoods. "Very well then, it looks like it is time for Plan-B." They walked across the street and Jake picked up a duffel bag he had put next to the door earlier.

"What is in there?" O'Neal asked.

"Better if you didn't know." Jake said flatly as he opened the door. He walked into the office with Duke behind him. O'Neal checked around the street and once satisfied it was empty, he closed the door behind him.

"Let me talk to him first Jake." Duke said.

"Why?"

"Because, he can't talk with a mouth full of broken teeth. Believe me, leaving this guy get a little bruised won't ruffle my feathers. But we need the information he can tell us to find them." Jake thought through what Duke said and reasoned he was right.

"I understand, I just want to find them."

"I know, so do I, and the sooner we get this done the better." Duke finished and opened the door to the jail. He slowly walked to the cell that contained Jimmy, who had his back turned to the door. Jimmy heard the footsteps behind him.

"Lawyer." he said. Duke took out the key and opened the door. Jimmy turned around. "I said law-"

"Shut up. I'm not the sheriff. I am the owner of one of the dogs your buddies stole. Needless to say, I want to find him. You know where he is."

"Really, I know where he is? Well, looks like I should be in the fortune teller business, 'cause I've got no idea what you are talking about."

"Bull, you are a smuggler with the Chicago Outfit, and like I said, I'm not with the sheriff." Duke waived at the door. The doorknob turned and the next thing Duke saw Jake walking down the hallway with his duffle bag. "You remember Jake right? Just remember I gave you a chance to talk to me." Jake opened the cell door and silently walked in.

"Wait! Wait! This guy is nuts!" Duke turned to leave." Come on! Don't leave me!" Jimmy was not sure what was scarier; the duffle bag Jake was carrying or the emotionless expression on his face.

"Then tell me where they are." Duke commanded. Jake dropped the duffle bag on the floor, it made a resounding and heavy thud as it landed. To Jimmy it may as well have been a gunshot.

"Alright alright! I'll tell you whatever you want, just make him go away!" Jimmy yelped.

"Jake go stand outside please." Duke said authoritatively. Jake followed his friend's command without a sound. After the hallway door opened and closed again, Duke turned his attention back to Jimmy "Well then, let's get to business. Where are they?" Jimmy put up his hands and the expression on his face screamed that he was scared to death.

"After we got the dogs, we were told to take them to a warehouse in Brandon Docks."

"Do you expect me to know where that is?"

"Chicago Doughboy, it's in Chicago."

"Address, now." Duke tossed him a pad and pen. Jimmy quickly picked it up and scribbled down the address.

"Thank you." Duke walked out of the room with the address and left Jimmy with the duffle bag.

"Hey, hey! What about this thing?"

"You can have them." Jimmy unzipped the bag revealing a couple dozen phone books.

"You can use one to call that lawyer." Duke strode down the hallway with a smile that would rival the Cheshire Cat. He opened the door to the lobby and held up the address.

"Jake pack our bags, were going to the Windy City."

"Chicago? Should have guessed." Jake stood and made ready to leave.

"Hold on boys." O'Neal said. "I let you do your thing in there, and don't mistake me, I am grateful. But I just can't let you two go off on a suicide mission-"

"No, "Jake spat out."We already told you we won't let someone else take care of this. There are only three people that I trust on this Me, Duke, and you. I can't trust someone I don't know, not with all these stories I've heard of corruption and cops there on the take." O'Neal slapped Jake upside the head and waived a finger in his face.

"If you would have let me finish, I was going to say, I wouldn't let you go on a suicide mission without giving you some help." With that, he took a key out of his pocket and tossed it to Duke. "Take what you want, just bring them back clean." O'Neal pointed to a back room. Duke walked up to the door and put the key into the lock. With a turn of the key, he heard a satisfactory click as the tumblers lined up and the door opened. Behind the door was the sheriff's armory. A room about the size of a large bathroom that was dominated with gun racks and boxes of ammunition. Jake walked in and picked up a weapon, he let out a low whistle.

"Hey O`Neal, are you worried were gonna be invaded or something? " he said, holding the large weapon in his hands. "What is this thing anyway?"

"Thompson sub-machine gun, there have been a rash of bank robberies lately and I wanted to be prepared." Duke picked up a shotgun and worked the pump action, a twelve gauge round popped out the side. Duke swiftly caught and examined it.

"Well I would say you are prepared for the end of the world there O'Neal." O'Neal said nothing, he just shrugged his shoulders and smirked, his grey mustached twitched, eliciting a chuckle out of Jake.

"Thanks O'Neal, this will come in handy." They also picked up a pair of rucksacks for the search and rescue teams.

"Well, this is kind of a search and rescue." Jake said, holding up the red pack.

"Ya, except with automatic weapons and a whole city of gangsters." Duke joked.

"You say potato I say potàto." Both opened the packs and put their chosen armaments into the sacks with some spare ammo. Duke put his army pistol into a shoulder holster and hid it in his jacket. Jake picked up a revolver and did the same. They both then put on the packs and walked out of the office and to the airport. Across the street at the hospital, Jenna saw them leave and stopped her conversation with Dusty.

"Look," everyone present turned their attention out the open window. "Where are they going?"

"I have no idea." Dusty said to her. Boris flapped up to the window sill and watched them walk down the hill.

"I have no idea either, but I know how to find out." He took off with Stella close behind him.

"Don't think about leaving without me fly-guy." she said as she caught up to him.

"Stella?" Boris was slightly surprised while not being surprised at all. "What are you doing?"

"Last time I checked it was called moving my wings up and down and flying." she said with an obvious hint of sarcasm.

"I mean up here. This could be dangerous." Boris said with his typical overprotective manner.

"After spending a year or two around Balto, one finds danger is like taking a bath, it happens every day."

"I hate it when you make sense like that." Both flapped over the heads of Duke and Jake. The two men turned into the air strip and Duke began to wheel out his plane.

"How long till we are ready to get out of here?" Jake asked.

"About five minutes. Do me a favor and load up our stuff." Jake did as he was asked; he checked their gear and loaded the packs into the plane's cargo compartment. Boris and Stella watched overhead from a water tower.

"Where do you think they are goin'?" Stella asked.

"No idea, go back and tell Jenna what we saw."

"So you can sneak off without me? I was born, but wasn't yesterday." She scolded and shot him a nasty look.

"Fine, we need to get into plane. I know from experience they are not very comfortable, but it is faster than us by long shot."

"Ok, I can make do with uncomfortable. But how do plan on getting on?" Jake answered her question as he left the cargo door open after tossing in the packs.

"The man is incapable of closing anything; I've gotten a few free treats out of his pantry myself." Boris flapped over to the plane and jumped in with Stella behind him. Boris closed the door after him making a metallic clang.

"Did you hear that?" Duke asked.

"Door closed, must have been the wind." Jake answered.

"Must have. Hop in, were ready to get out of here. Contact." Boris heard the engine sputter to life and the sounds of both of them clamor into the cockpits.

"Attention," Duke yelled over the engine, "keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times and hang on, Chicago here we come." the plane lurched forward and they were underway. Jake felt his loss of touch with the ground as they climbed into the air as he did he may have left part of his stomach on the ground.

"Hey, Duke, is now a bad time to tell you I don't fly well?" Jake admitted. Duke opened a small compartment and took out a small bottle. He held the bottle in front of him and Jake grabbed the bottle and opened it, revealing some small pink pills.

"Air sickness pills, they did wonders on Balto when I first took him up." Jake quickly flipped two into his mouth and swallowed them. Inside the cargo space Boris and Stella were having a slightly better experience flying Air-Duke.

"All of the speed and none of the wind shear. Humans have it too easy." Stella jealously said.

"The only way to fly." Boris chirped, he sat back with his head against one of the packs. "But the sleeping accommodations could use work, what do they have here, rocks?" Boris unzipped one of the packs and was greeted by a shotgun barrel.

"Yipe!" Boris jumped out of his feathers and landed in Stella's wings.

"Fraidy-Goose." She dropped him on the floor of the plane. She trotted over to the pack and unzipped it the rest of the way. On the inside was everything but the kitchen sink. "My my my, these two really do mean business."

"I am glad we are on their side for this one." Boris said flatly. He zipped back up the bag and laid his head down on the other side of the pack, checking for any misplaced firepower first.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Welcome to Chicago

Chicago April 8, 1929

Balto lifted his heavy head from the hay covered floor he had been passed out on. He looked around the small space he and the others now occupied. The cage was not much larger then a chicken coop and the iron bars began to show signs of rust. The floor creaked and moaned to every move, and the surroundings were damp and dank. Steele seemed to be already awake and was keeping an eye on the pups; he saw Balto stir and decided to check on him.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, it is about time you woke up." Balto stood and shook off the bits of hay on his back.

"I came to when we landed on that plane; they stuck me with some needle and knocked me back out."

"You said we were on a plane?" Steele asked with an inflection.

"Yes, why?"

"If they took us on a plane, then it is a safe bet we aren't anywhere near home. Heck, we may not even be in the States anymore!" Steele began to get nervous and make a rather loud ruckus. His commotion started to make the animals around them to follow suit. Animals all around them began to make even more noise, which in turn agitated even more. Soon the entire warehouse of animals had gone into a state of chaos. Among the sounds of the various animals, a door opened on the far side of the commodious room, followed by some futile shouting.

"Hey! What gives?" Balto knew the man's voice; it was Tony, the man who caught himself and Suki. Another man that Balto didn't recognize came out next with a shotgun. He fired the shotgun into the air, the animals quickly quelled and the room became as silent as the grave. "Rico! Cut that out! The boss is gonna be here any minute, and the last thing we need is another animal with pellets in it!"

"Well it worked didn't it?" Rico said, holding up the gun. Balto saw a new face enter the room, the man that drugged him, Andre.

"That is the so'n'so that took Loki and me." Steele whispered. Andre saw Rico with the gun and lost his temper.

"Rico! What in hell do you think you are doing? You wing one of these things and that is a few grand slipping out of our pockets! The next time these walking air raid sirens start up again use the prod! Now gimme that thing." Andre ripped the shotgun out of Rico's hands and wacked him in the shoulder with it. "Now get your act together, the big man's car just pulled up." Tony and Rico exchanged a single frightened look and snapped up into a near-military stride. All three marched out the open door with a strict silence.

"This boss of theirs is quite the honcho." Steele said with a smirk.

"Or very dangerous." Balto said flatly. Steele's smile disappeared and was replaced with the same look of fear the men had.

"Why do you think they took us?"

"One of them said something about a buyer; I think they plan on selling us away somewhere." Balto looked at the two still sleeping pups in the corner. "That is not going to happen."

"We need to get the blue-blazes out of here." Steele said back

"I agree wholeheartedly, but how?"

"I'm still working on that." While Steele and Balto strategized on their escape, the main door to the warehouse opened and an entourage of no less than thirty walked in. They heard chatter in the crowd. A well dressed man with a red tie stood in the center and motioned to the animals like a barker at a carnival.

"I'm guessing he is the grand-pubba." Steele said.

"I suppose, I can barely see him." Balto returned. Even though they were a fair distance away, he could hear the man's booming voice.

"Mr. Rouliani, you have done a fine job taking care of my investments, when can we expect to see a return in this fine specimen here?" Said the man as he pointed to a cage that contained a Bengal tiger.

"Watch out boss, this city cat here is not very nice." Rouliani warned.

"I said how much is he gonna make me, not if he'll kiss my feet." the man said obnoxiously.

"The latest buyer said _she _would be worth a nickel."

"50 Gee`s huh, not bad. Seeing she is practically feral." The tiger seemed to understand the underhanded comment and lunged at the bars. In quick response, Tony came up with a long metal rod and jabbed it at the tiger. Balto heard a snap and the tiger backed away quickly.

"Thank you, Mr. Kelanchi. Now then, about the latest catch." Rouliani said. "For you gentlemen that do not know, we have recently acquired not one but two of the famous dogs from the International Dog Sled Race earlier this year. I am sorry to inform you interested buyers, but the two adults have already been sold to a buyer in France. We do have another option for you however." Balto turned his head around and knew immediately as to who this Rouliani was referring to, Loki and Suki.

"Over my dead body." He mumbled under his breath. The entourage approached the cage and Steele's grand-puba leaned in on them. He cracked a wicked smile revealing a set of pearly white teeth and as he began to speak, Balto could smell something akin to rotting fish.

"Hello there buddy, I bid you welcome to my wonderful city of Chicago." In response, Balto let out a low growl.

"I don't think he likes you very much Mr. Capone." someone behind joked.

"Nonsense Mr. Young, I'm a natural with doggies." Capone tried to pat Balto on the head and he snapped at his hand, Balto felt his teeth make contact and a small metallic taste on his tongue. "Ack! Little bastard bit me!"

"I'm sorry Al, I should have warned you. This one here is Balto; he is not exactly a dog, more of a wolf really." Rouliani said apologetically.

"Oh, so he is more wolf eh? Gentlemen, Snappy here made this a teachable moment. You see with wild animals, they'll never listen, but there is a way to make them to get in line." Capone grabbed the rod out of Tony's hand and jabbed it into Balto's side. The rod connected and sent a shock throughout his body. Balto felt the volts coarse up and down his body; every nerve and muscle snapped into action, causing him to jump way and fly into the opposite side of the cage. A dull pain emanated from his shoulder as he flew into a bar. He fell onto the floor of the cage and passed out. "Pain gentlemen, pain. It works not only with dogs but people too." He stuck Tony in the leg with the device, causing its target to collapse onto the concrete floor in a heap. "Next time, do your job, you nincompoop!" He switched off the rod and tossed it on to Tony's chest. The gaggle of bidders, mob-bosses and bodyguards moved on to the next animal on their list. Behind them Rico and Andre watched as Capone commenced with his display. As he looked on, Andre shook his head.

"What a pig." he said to himself.

"Whatcha say?" Rico asked.

"I said that man is a pig. Those shock rods are made for dangerous animals like Gertrude, not for sled dogs, wolf or no. Hell, if he had kept that up much longer on that setting, he would have spent a hundred grand on his little temper tantrum."

"How do you know that?"

"I built them."

"Jesus, what about Tony?" Rico was concerned for his colleague, of whom was still on the floor.

"He'll be fine in a couple of minutes. Come on; help me get him on his feet." Andre picked the rod up off of Tony's chest and tossed it away. They then helped him up onto a crate.

"I can't move my leg." Tony said in a dazed and absent voice.

"That is what happens when a hundred-thousand volts hits you." Andre knew his whole leg had cramped up and was not going to be very pleasant for a few minutes "Stay here pal, I'll be right back." Andre zipped into another room and came back with a glass of water and a bag of ice. "Here drink some water, Rico put this on his leg, it will help with the pain." Andre looked over his shoulder at the cage and saw an unconscious Balto on the side of the cage with Steele and the pups around him.

"Balto! Balto speak to me!" Steele shouted. "Come on buddy! Wake up!" Steele heard footsteps behind him and saw Andre walking towards him, Steele jumped at the side of the cage and began to snarl and bark at him. As he came closer, Steele snapped at him and he quickly backed off. Behind him, Suki licked the side of Balto's face.

"Papi! Wake up!" Balto lay there still as a statue. With Andre in retreat, Steele rushed back to Balto; he could see he was still breathing, just knocked out cold.

"He'll be ok kids; he just needs to sleep it off." Steele herded Suki and Loki around him and they all laid down around Balto to keep him warm. Steele heard a subtle whimper coming from Loki.

"Are you okay son?" Steele knew the answer to his own question.

"Why are they doing this to us papa?" Loki sniffled, a single tear rolled down his face and dropped onto the floor.

"I don't know kiddo, I don't know." Steele lied; he knew exactly what their fates were.

"Why did that man hurt Balto?"

"Because Balto bit him and he is not a nice man. Come now, get some sleep. I will wake you up when sleeping beauty here comes around, again." Loki curled up into a ball between Steele and Balto, Suki followed suit and they drifted to sleep. Steele also began to doze and laid his head down on his paws. He closed his eyes just long enough to miss the large bowl of water to appear on the other side of the cage. He snapped up and surveyed the outside of the cage, he saw Andre walking away and occasionally looking over his shoulder. Steele stood and walked to the bowl. He lapped up some of the water, it was cool and refreshing. He nosed the bowl to the others in the cage and splashed some Balto's way. The water landed on him and he twitched in reaction to the cool spray on him. After a few small splashes he began to come around. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he let out a low moan of pain.

"Steele, I'm up, you can stop-" another splash of water hit his face. "Hey, stop wasting it!" Steele stopped and smirked.

"Sorry, I was having too much fun."

"Right, let me have some." Balto attempted to stand but the pain from his shoulder flew out and he collapsed on the floor. He settled for crawling instead. The water felt good in his dehydrated mouth.

"Do you think it's broken?" Steele asked.

"No, just a sprain, doesn't mean it feels like a bed of tulips though."

"Well I got news for you Howler, that shoulder of yours is gonna be the least of our worries. In a few days, you and me are gonna be stuck in the middle of France and the kids of over there are-, I don't even want to think about it." Balto saw the concern in his eyes and knew immediately what they had to do.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Up in Smoke

Outside of Chicago April 8, 1929

The plane jolted Jake out of his sleep as its wheels touched the ground outside of Chicago.

"Hey Duke, did anybody ever tell you this thing is a lousy alarm clock?"

"Just be glad you don't sleep walk." Duke killed the engine and both hopped out. While Jake stretched his legs and shook off the unpleasant night, Duke began to unload the plane. He undid the latch on the cargo compartment and nearly fell over when the compartment opened itself. Two loud and unhappy geese flew out of the cargo bay and one caught a flipper in Dukes face. As they flew off, Jake quickly finished his calisthenics and ran to Duke, who was covered in white feathers.

"What happened? Did you get attacked by a feather duster?" Jake asked; he quickly went to work brushing the white feathers off of Duke.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I would say that was Boris and Stella." Duke said, picking more feathers out of his hair.

"You mean those two geese that hang around your boat? Why were they in the cargo bay?"

"Can't help you there. But we don't have time to sit around and talk about it. We have a warehouse to raid." Duke grabbed the packs out of the compartment and tossed Jake his. Duke took a look in the compartment to make sure they had everything and closed to with a horrified look on his face.

"Now what? You look like you saw a ghost."

"I am not cleaning that up."

"No biggy, we need to get a move on." Jake said. Both men put on their packs and walked out to a row of cabs. High above, Boris and Stella flapped overhead and Stella was non to happy for the ride in the plane.

"Since when does bird get air sick?" Boris asked in a condescending tone.

"Hey! I've never been in a plane before, mister ' I'm afraid of heights.'"

"I still have the scar. Being shot is no fun." Before Boris could continue his tirade, Stella saw something below

"Look, down there." Boris saw Duke and Jake loading their gear and hardware into a taxi. Both clamored in and the cab sped away.

"After them, we can't lose them!" Both began a close pursuit. Down below, the inside of the cab smelled of a peculiar mix of cigar smoke and coffee. Jake restrained himself to not yell at the cab driver who had a massive Cuban cigar hanging out of his mouth.

"Good afternoon gentlemen." he stuck out his hand and both Duke and Jake politely shook it. "Where am I taking y'all today?" The driver asked in a thick and gruff Irish accent.

"We need to head over to this address." Duke handed the driver the note that Jimmy had written the warehouse's location on. The driver read the address and his eyes opened wide.

"This address is in the dockyard, now that is a bit of a jaunt from here, I'd hate to sound impolite, but it will cost a pretty penny to-" Jake took out his wallet and handed the man a twenty dollar bill.

"Will this cover it?"

"You will be there in no time; I'm Tomas by the way." Tomas snatched the twenty and put it in his money box. The cab wove around corners and through the city, passing landmarks and beautiful buildings. Jake, who had spent most of his life in Old Crow and other rural Canadian towns, was a tad overwhelmed by the sheer size of Chicago, and the sheer smell.

"So, you guys are headed to the docks, eh?" Tomas asked from the front.

"Yep." Duke answered.

"It's a rough section of town these days, what are ya doin' down there? If you don't mind my asking." Between his thick accent and his cigar, Duke felt as if he needed an interpreter.

"Oh, just a business contract went south, so the boss sent us down to straighten it out."

"Business contract?" the man asked.

"Ya, you might call it a hostile takeover." Jake played along. The cab turned onto the road to the dockyard and from behind Duke could hear a siren.

"Do you hear that?" More sirens could be heard in the distance and a fire truck flew by the cab, then another. More vehicles rocketed by and Duke saw the reason, a thick column of jet black smoke had arisen into the air. Duke and Jake shared one concerned look.

"Step on it!" Jake nearly yelled.

"Your wish is my command." The cab started back on its course as they mimicked the movements of the emergency vehicles. The source of the smoke came into view. The address on the paper lead to the warehouse, or rather what was left of it. To boot, a large herd of random animals were scattered throughout the surrounding area. Things like ostriches and kangaroos ran wild, gazelles and rhinos, wolves and bears. It seemed as if Noah's ark had just landed and the entire animal kingdom was having a reunion. Tomas stopped the cab and leaned over the seat.

"Um, I think this is it. Do you want me to-"

"Just let us out here." Jake tossed him a five dollar bill. "Keep the change." Both got out and removed their packs from the trunk. Overhead Boris and Stella observed the maelstrom below.

"Boris, what am I looking at?" Stella asked.

"I don't know. See if you can find Balto or Steele."

"I just hope we find them before the firemen do." Both birds broke away and flew in a circular pattern around the docks. Boris saw nothing and Stella had an emotionless face upon her. Things were not much better on the ground as the firemen were undulating between fighting the fire and catching the stray animals. Jake ran towards the inferno shouting madly.

"Steele! Loki! Did anybody see some dogs come out?" Duke grabbed Jake's arms and held him back.

"Jake stop! We can't do anything here! We gotta go!" Jake attempted to struggle out of Duke's grip. "Stop, come on, we gotta go, now!" Duke pulled him away and began to drag him over the pavement and onto a sandy clearing.

"Duke let me go!" Jake knew wrestling off a man with two inches and twenty pounds on him was futile. "I won't go anywhere, just let me go." Duke released him and he flopped into the sand and began to cry. "Why? Why did they blow it up?"

"I don't know." Duke took out his anger at the sand, kicking into it. Now tired and frustrated, he sat down next to Jake and ran his hand through his hair."That makes no sense, why would they blow it all up?" Jake looked up from his distress to answer and saw a small glint in the distance.

"What is that?"

"What's what?" Duke asked. Jake got up and walked through the wet sand with Duke behind him. The glint was something caught on a culvert entrance. Jake picked it up and had a look of perplexion on his face.

"What is it?" Duke asked again. Jake silently held out his find. It was what looked like a leather strap; he opened his hand revealing the gold ornamentation and the raised gold letters that spelt out Steele.

"Steele's collar, where? How?"

"I haven't the foggiest. Hey take a look at this." Jake pointed at the ground. Duke knelt down and saw four sets of tracks, two large and two small. "From what I can tell, whoever made these tracks was in a hurry. And if I had to guess, the who in this case are our boys and girl." Two more sets of tracks were off to the side, except they where human tracks and in a haphazard manner.

"And these are the ones putting them in a hurry." In one of the tracks, Duke saw something metallic; he exhumed it out of the ground. It was the casing to a large pistol round.

"This is still warm, we just missed them." Duke said, examining it, on the back of the casing was a .44 a revolver round. Duke remembered the two men shooting at him the other night, two and two equals four.

"Great now what are we supposed to do?" Duke stood and thought for a minute.

"I have an idea. Remember what we did with Jimmy?"

"Nobody here to interrogate."

"No, Jake, we need a phone book."


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Lions and Tigers and Bears

Brandon Dockyards April 8, 1929

Long after they began their search for their wayward friends, Boris and Stella failed to find neither hide nor hair of any of them. The sun had begun to set and so where Stella's sprits.

"Boris, we already searched here four times and we have been up here for almost an hour." She called out.

"Then take nap. I am not going to stop looking." Boris scanned up and down the shoreline and flew down to just a few feet above the waves. He saw something in an open pipe. He flew in for a closer look. Whatever it was, it was rather small. Boris landed on the pipe and poked it with his flipper. The small lump sprang up and revealed a bouncing pup.

"Uncle Boris! You found me!" Said the pup in a high pitched voice.

"Suki?" The pup in front of him hardly resembled Suki, her white, snow-like fur was covered in dirt and debris and she smelled like she hadn't had a bath in a decade. "Suki, where is Balto, or Steele."

"I don't know. I fell down here" An echo rang out through the tunnel.

"Suki. Suki can you hear me?"

"Papi? Papi!"

"Balto?" Boris's face lit up "Balto!"

"Boris? Is that you?" The echo of Steele's voice joined in as well. Boris leaned out and called to Stella as the others approached. Stella came in for a landing on the top of the pipe and peeked over the edge. Boris saw the face of his long time friend materialize out of the darkness and he ran up and gave Balto a hug that may have cut off his circulation.

"I thought you were dead. How did you boychiks make it out?"

"Well," Balto began." After we came here, it was obvious they did not have the five star accommodations we asked for so we decided to leave. One of them got me with some kind of device, gave me a nasty shock. After that we decided to come up with a plan."

2 hours earlier

"So Howler, how do think we are supposed to get out of this jam?" Steele asked Balto. He looked over his shoulder and saw the two pups sleeping against each other. The plan Balto had been tossing around in his head was risky and reckless. Par for the course and he was low on options.

"I have an idea. You see the cable attached to the side of the cage?" Steele examined the side of the cages gate and saw a box with a cable coming out of it and leading off.

"Ya I see it, huh, never saw it before."

"Probably because we were too busy with our hysterics to take in the scenery. Anyway, there are cables like this on all of the cages." Steele looked at each cage in view and saw an identical cable coming from each cage's gate. The cables converged and ran into and along the wall, and at the wall; they traveled into a large panel marked-

Emergency System

"Emergency? Well I guess this counts." Steele said.

"Right, but there is one small problem, if I can't squeeze through here, you surely can't." Balto responded.

"And you have a plan for that too right? Right?" Balto looked over his shoulder again and turned back to Steele.

"One, but I don't like it very much."

"We volunteer." Balto and Steele whirled their heads around when they heard Loki and Suki speak in one voice.

"You two were never asleep were you?" Steele asked.

"Why sleep, were already living in a nightmare." Loki snapped back. Steele's eyes widened when he heard his son. It was a stark and harsh truth, but the pup's tone hinted he was upset, not too surprising.

"We want to help." Suki said. "It is not the best, but I don't see any other way."

"This is all well and good." Steele said sarcastically. "But I won't let you be in that kind of danger Loki."

"Danger? It is a little late for that!" Loki was losing his temper. Balto stepped in before Steele said something to set off the pup.

"Enough! Steele, this is not ideal, but is the only way we get out of here in one piece and not on a boat. And Loki, your father only has your best interests at heart. Do you think he likes being here?" Loki drooped his ears. "I didn't think so."

"I'm sorry Papa, I just lost my head; it must be this place." Loki admitted.

"All the more reason to get out of here." Suki said as she tried to squeeze through the bars. With some difficulty and squirming, she made it through. Loki followed after her, as he made his way through the bars, his larger body got stuck in the space and Steele pushed him the rest of the way.

"Good luck." he said. The two pups snuck their way underneath cages and did their best not to be seen. After they were out earshot Balto turned to his friend.

"You haven't told him yet, have you?"

"Told him what?"

"Don't play dumb, you know what I mean."

"Oh, that. No we haven't told any of them yet."

"Steele, I'm telling you this as your friend, don't wait. I waited too long and nearly lost Aleu over it. And Loki and my daughter are practically the same."

"I know, I just need to figure out how to tell him." As Steele pondered Loki's reaction to this kind of news. The pups had made to the panel unseen. The panel was covered in switches, levers and a myriad of other controls for the whole warehouse.

"So now what do we do?" Suki asked.

"I donno, just start pulling levers and pushing buttons." Both pups began to do just that. Suki pulled a lever and all of the lights turned off.

"Oh no. I can't see!" Suki yelped. The lights came back to life and Suki opened her eyes, Loki had flipped the lever back up.

"Are you trying to tell me that you are scared of the dark?" Loki said with a smirk.

"No, I was just worried you might fall of, that's all." Suki attempted to lie; Loki just rolled his eyes in response.

"Whatever, let's just find the release and get out of here." Loki pressed a button marked Fire Suppression. Over head, sprinklers came to life, making the warehouse akin to a water park.

"Turn it off!" Suki yelled. Loki went to hit the switch again but accidentally hit the fire alarm. A Claxton vibrated the walls with an incessant noise. Now, the entire building knew something was afoot. Tony ran into the room and as he flopped in the water on the floor, he was dumbfounded.

"What in the world is going on here?"

"Come on Loki, find the release." Suki implored.

"I'm doing the best I can, we are dogs after all; I can't read English well." Loki pressed another button at random, by sheer happenstance, he pressed the master release. All of the cages popped open and animals filed out of them. The gate in front of Balto clicked and he pushed it open with a paw.

"After you." Steele said. Both of them sprinted to the control panel and snatched up the pups in their mouths. Out of the corner of his eye, Balto saw Rico, Andre and Rouliani join Tony in the center of the room. Rouliani looked as if he would pop a blood vessel; he also saw the man was brandishing a large gun.

"Somebody turn off that racket!" Rouliani bellowed. Rico ran over to the control panel, he quickly undid what the pups had done. The Claxton died down and the sprinklers ceased to spray their water.

Andre picked up three of the shock rods and handed one to Rico and Tony.

"Don't shoot unless you have to, they aren't worth jack to us dead."

"Right boss." Tony grabbed the rod and tried to coral a pair of ostriches. Rico began to square off against a coyote. From the other side of the warehouse, Balto took in the scene from behind a row of crates.

"It looks like the Serengeti out there. Suki stay close to me." she nodded.

"That goes double for you Loki." Steele said flatly.

"Yes Papa." the pup said in a small voice.

"We better get while the getting is good Howler." A pair of men opened a door and rushed to the assistance of the other gangsters. Balto could see daylight on the other side.

"Exit stage left. Stay low and don't move too fast, no use being spotted." Steele nodded in agreement and they crept slowly and silently, hugging the crates. Balto would occasionally whack a crate with his tail to tell everyone to stop so he could check the scene. Each time he did, the inside of the crates rattled around and the sounds of glass hitting glass would sometimes clink around. Off to the side, the shouting increased, Balto and Steele peeked over to see what was transpiring. Tony was still fumbling around with the ostriches and Andre was doing his best not to be stuck with a porcupine. Rouliani stood atop a pyramid of crates and barrels shouting orders to the men below him.

"Tony! Put those over-grown chickens back in their coupe and help out Andre!"

"Yes sir." Tony said back. Steele turned to Balto.

"Not exactly a well oiled machine, are they?"

"Let me put it this way, remembers what happened at the beginning of the sled race with the Spanish and Australian teams?"

"Ya, they collided and made a big mess, why?"

"They are less of a total cluster-"

"Whoa buddy, kids. I'm gonna tell Jenna to wash out that wolf-mouth." Balto quietly chuckled to himself and continued to lead them out. As they kept moving, Steele heard a low rumble behind them.

"Did you hear that?" He asked.

"Nope." Balto said, too busy watching the frenzy and tracking the people. Steele heard the rumble again and turned to see a set of large teeth and piercing green eyes staring back at him.

"B-Ba, t-t-t." Steele was frozen with fear.

"What is wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?" Balto turned and saw the thief of Steele's tongue. A giant Bengal Tiger, the same one that nearly turned Capone into mincemeat. "Uh, heh, nice kitty." Balto began to backpedal along with Steele and they both picked up the pups on the way. The tiger slowly stalked them, snarling all the way.

"You got a plan?" Steele asked out of the side of his mouth.

"Run!" Both of them sprinted away. The tiger roared and gave chase. Over the other side of the crates, Balto could hear a man shouting

"Hey Boss! There's the tiger!" Rouliani looked over the wall of crates and saw the beast. In response he cocked his weapon and began to yell out orders.

"Somebody get a net on her! Kill her only if you have to, she is worth a pretty penny." Tony and Andre grabbed a large metallic net and went after her. Meanwhile, Balto and Steele were doing their best not to be lunch. They leapt over the wall of crates with the pups in their mouths and the tiger did the same. Balto saw the net coming and made a quick left turn, Steele followed and the tiger shot past. She flew directly into the heavy metal net. Tony and Andre wrestled her to the ground. She fought back and quickly flung them off. Andre attempted to get a jab in with his rod, but the tiger deftly dodged it and bit the shaft, she twisted the rod out of Andre's hand and pinned him to the ground in one swift motion. The rod clanged onto the ground and sputtered out, the tiger readied herself to finish Andre off when the tearing sound of a machine gun reverberated the building and sparks flashed all around them. Rouliani was cutting loose with his weapon. The tiger broke away and ran from the flashing bullets. Balto and Steele had taken cover behind a stack of barrels. Whilst Balto watched the fury from over the barrels, Steele checked on the pups.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Yep, pop, perfectly fine." Loki responded. Another burst came out of the gun. "Yipe!" Loki jumped into the air and hid behind the barrels, Suki stepped in something warm and wet.

"Well, at least one of us is fine." Suki said snarkily. The shooting continued and a few bullets hit the barrels. Some kind of liquid spilled out and Steele thought of passing out, coughing at the smell.

"Eah, what are these things filled with, rotten eggs?" he took a closer look at the barrels and saw they had a small red fire symbol on them. Next to the symbol were letters

G-A-S-O-L-I-N-E

"Hey, uh Balto, we may want to go someplace else."

"Why?"Balto responded, turning around.

"Take a look." Balto read the same label Steele did. After reading it, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Okay, let's go!" He and Steele quickly extricated themselves from behind the barrels of gas with the pups following close behind them. The tiger was still running about and causing chaos, and Rouliani was still blazing away with his weapon. In the hysteria, most of the mobsters had taken cover behind something solid. One of them turned and pointed at the four and shouted as they slinked out of the open door.

"Hey! Their getting' away!" It was Rico, he and Tony sprang up and ran out after them. Back inside, Rouliani lined up a burst on the tiger and fired, she quickly dodged the rounds, they flew past her and sparked on the concrete, one of the sparks found its way to the pool of gasoline on the ground, igniting it. The burning fuel slowly slithered back to the barrels, in turn catching them on fire.

"Everybody out! This place is gonna blow!" Andre ran to the emergency panel and threw a series of switches that reactivated the fire system and opened all the doors. He also hit the master release again and set the animals they had managed to coral back out. They all charged out the open doors and into the mid-day air. Balto looked on at the frenzy of animals and people pouring out of the building as the fires crept over the windows and smoke billowed out. Two of the people were running strait at him!

"Come on! Don't stop!" He yelled to the others.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Loki answered. Balto saw a culvert of to the side of the lot they were in. Any port in a storm.

"Follow me." Balto leading them towards the culvert and as they went in, Steele felt himself snag on something. He turned his head around and saw his collar was caught on the side of the culvert.

"Hey, a little help! I'm stuck!" He said, struggling to free himself. Balto ran over and attempted to help. He simply undid the small latch on the collar and Steele slipped out. Fifty feet away, Tony and Rico were catching up but knew their quarry would escape. Rico reached into his jacket and produced a large revolver.

"Better to be wounded than gone." He took aim at the back leg of Steele when the gun was suddenly jerked up, it fired harmlessly into the air. Tony had just saved Steele.

"Not that way! The boss will kill us if we cost him his dogs!" Rico was about to say something when he heard a car horn behind him. It was Andre and Rouliani inside and they could hear sirens in the distance.

"Let's get the bloody hell out of here!" Rouliani shouted from the passenger side window. Rico and Tony sprinted to the car and entered. It screeched its tires and drove off. Back inside the culvert, Balto heard them run off and thought the coast was clear.

"Alright I think they are gone. Let me take a look." Balto began to slowly walk out the culvert and as he did Suki tried to follow, except she stepped into another pipe and was whisked away.

"Papi! She yelled as she slid down the pipe.

"Suki!" Balto jumped into the pipe and followed her down. Steele and Loki went in after them. The pipe forked left and right, offshoots in many directions appeared in front of them and they slid to a stop. Suki was not there and they had three tunnels in front of them.

"Everybody split up and pick a tunnel, we have to find her!" All three separated and choose a tunnel, Balto choose the center and followed its length, further down the pipe he heard the echoes of voices.

"Suki. Suki can you hear me?" he yelled down the tunnel.

"Papi!" Balto sprinted down the pipe and heard another familiar and friendly voice.

"Balto!"

"I got it" Boris interrupted. "Balto, we need to get back up there to warehouse! Jake and Duke are here and can get us back!"

"Duke and Jake are here?" Steele asked with hope.

"Da, they flew here."

"With us as stowaways." Stella added.

"That is terrific, but we can't make it back up the pipe we slid down, it's too steep." Balto said flatly.

"I hate it when you are right." Steele said, shaking his head. "We were so close, damn it!"

"What about the water?" Boris suggested

"Slight problem there." Steele said. "For one thing, we are thirty feet up; and for another, the pups can't swim."

"Well," Balto concluded. "That just means that we are gonna have to go back to the pipes and find another way out."

"That could take hours!" Loki lamented loudly.

"I know, but I don't see an alternative. So I guess we are left with stumbling around in the dark for a little while." The group of dogs and geese trudged back into the tunnel and got ready to put up with being lost for a little while longer.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Some New Eyes.

Chicago April 8, 1929

Jake held the flashlight over a phonebook as Duke flipped through it.

"What are we here for again?" Duke ignored him and continued to consult the book. As he did he mumbled.

"Pharmacist no, physician, no." he turned the page. "Protection Agency? Too far." he looked up and down the page and found what he was looking for. "Private contractors, here we go. Private Eye." he held a finger in the first one. Anderson Private Investigators.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." Jake shook his head and thought about slapping Duke upside his. "You are going to get a PI? We are going up against the mob to get our friends back, not looking' into family history."

"Shh, it's ringing."

"Hello?" a female voice answered.

"Yes, is this the Anderson Private Investigation Agency?"

"Yep, that would be us."

"Great, I have a case for you."

"Say no more, come in at any time."

"Excellent, we will be in soon." Duke hung up the phone and turned to Jake who was silently laughing at him.

"Did anybody tell you that you sound like a school-boy talking to his first girlfriend on the phone?" Jake asked, still laughing.

"Shut up, I've got the address here." he took his map of Chicago out of his pocket and examined it. "Hey, the place is only a stone's throw from here. Looks like we just saved ourselves a cab fee."

"Great, now I don't have to drop another thirty bucks, by the way, you're paying for dinner and a hotel, and I'm starved." Jake said authoritatively.

"Wow, Jake, I get all tingly when you get bossy like that." Duke said jokingly, poking fun at him.

"Get over yourself." Jake said, trying not to laugh.

Duke began to walk down the street and Jake followed in close behind him.

"Just what do you plan on doing with a PI anyway? What, are we gonna have Dick Tracy and Sherlock Holmes run around Chicago and find us our dogs?"

"We need some help; we are not exactly working inside the law here. We are about as close to vigilantes as I am comfortable with already. Besides, if anything this guy will be able to help us get around this burg. This map looks like a spider's web. "Duke flipped the map over."And the spider was drunk." As he continued to stumble around on his spider's web of a map they landed on the correct street. "According to this, our man is three doors down."

"Alright, but is still think this is a waste of time." Jake complained

"And I still don't care, we need help." Duke said back.

"That is a bit of an understatement." Jake mumbled under his breath

They made it to the door and Duke knocked. The door was opened by a beautiful, young, redheaded woman.

"Anderson Private Investigators, I take it you were the gentleman I spoke with earlier?" Duke was a bit busy taking in the person in front of him, lost in a day dream and did not answer until Jake stepped on his foot with his size 13 boot. Duke jumped back into reality and composed himself.

"Hem, yes I talked to you earlier. Like I said, I have a case for you folks." She invited them in and walked inside. After she turned, Duke hit Jake in the chest with his arm; Jake slugged him in the shoulder and shook his head smiling. Both walked in behind the woman and she closed the door.

"Elizabeth Anderson, or Liz if you prefer. Come in, we can discuss your case in the study."

"Thank you, Liz." Duke answered quickly. Liz motioned to the next room and all three walked in. Liz sat down behind an oak desk; Duke and Jake took a pair of chairs opposite of her.

"So," Duke began. "Will your brother be joining us, or maybe your father?"

"What do you mean, I am an only child, and my father is a detective." Duke was puzzled for a moment and then looked behind her, a number of trophies and accolades adorned the wall and bookshelf behind her. Some for detective work and shooting, as well as others. Each bore the name Elizabeth Anderson on them. "You're a woman."

"Keen observation, what gave me away?" She said sarcastically. Jake was doing a good job suppressing a chuckle as his friend was chewing on the foot in his mouth.

"Well, I didn't think that, um-"

"I would be a woman? Don't worry too much, I've heard it so many times, it is like a rolling joke. But down to business, your case?" Duke leaned in and began to speak.

"Let me start at the beginning." They told her the whole story of the dog-napping and the warehouse, as well as their suspicion of the Outfit's involvement. During the story, Liz took out a pen and paper and took notes. At the end, she looked them over.

"What did you say the names of the dogs taken were?"

"Balto and Steele, the two adults." Duke said.

"And Loki and Suki, the pups." Jake continued. She wrote the names in the margin and noticed something familiar; she mouthed out Balto and realized something.

"Balto, isn't that is the name of one of those dogs that won that race a few months back."

"Yes, that's my Balto." Duke said somewhat proudly.

"And that makes Steele yours right?" she asked Jake.

"MmmHmm. He's mine." she clicked the pen and laid the pad down. She then folded her arms across her chest and sighed.

"Well, judging from all this, because both Balto and Steele are famous, they will be likely sent off to the highest bidder on the black market and the pups just like them. But it is probably somewhere in Europe because they are too easily recognized here. And you said they escaped?" Jake took the collar out of his pocket and held it out.

"Definitely, Steele would never go anywhere without this. We found it snagged on an open culvert to some pipe system. He laid it on the table and Liz just looked at it

"That adds a complication. Those pipes lead into the sewer and municipal tunnels, if they are in either, then they could be anywhere between the Docks and the Loop by now and we would have no idea where they are." As she said this, the color from Jake's face drained away.

"What do you think we should do?" Jake was now grasping at straws, hopping for a silver lining in a dark cloud.

"I can help you find your dogs, which is going to mean a lot of driving and walking. But what I am concerned about is the Outfit, if they are involved-" Duke and Jake premtivly cut her off by simply opening their packs, revealing all of the firepower O'Neal had given them. "Ok, never mind that, but I can still call in a couple of favors from the FBI and get their help out here."

"As much as I would like the G-Men breaking down Capone's door, how will they help us find our dogs?"

"They have a lot of resources that we could use, but that doesn't mean we can't find them faster. I have an idea we could try, it is a place that every dog in Chicago will find itself at one way or another."


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Only a Myth

Under Chicago April 8, 1929

The smell of the tunnel that they had been wandering around in for the last few hours was not particularly pleasant and Balto felt like getting sick. He checked on Suki, who was quietly snoozing on his back. Steele also was carrying Loki in a similar fashion. Boris and Stella brought up the rear.

"So what now" Balto asked "Are we just going to wander around here in stink-vile for the rest of our lives or are we gonna get out of here?"

"These pipes have to go somewhere; it is not like they are infinite." Steele said back.

"Well it feels like it is." Balto grumbled.

"You'll live." Steele kept on walking.

"Balto can we take five?" Stella asked. They came to an intersection and stopped.

"Sounds good, I wish I could sit down." Balto said, noting the grimy bottom of the pipe. Steele nodded in response.

"Me too, this stuff is nasty." he said, flicking some of the gunk off his paw.

"I grew up in the Big Apple." Stella began. "And if this is the type of pipe I think it is, and then I'm not sure I want to tell you all what we are stepping in. Just expect to be taking baths for a week or so when we get home."

"If we get home." Balto stated solemnly.

"Hey, Downer Dog!" Boris chimed in. "Don't start with me on that. We have been in tougher places than this before and we have made it back out again. Why should we give up now?"

"Boris, look around you. We are a thousand miles from home, in a strange city, wandering around in a sewer, and we're being hunted by gangsters, animal control and who knows what else!" He practically yelled. Steele starred at him in disbelief.

"Who are you and what have you done with my friend? Where is the Balto that Saved Nome or the one that rescued Duke and raced to the North Pole? Because you are as sure as hell not him. That guy was a hero, your already surrendering in the middle of the battle, a disgrace!" Balto's eyes flashed red in anger.

"Me, a disgrace? Look at you Steele! You nearly let a town choke on your pride! You put me through hell because your daddy told you to! You are not only a disgrace; you are too weak to protect your children!"

Steele bore his teeth and snarled.

"Don't you dare bring them into this, especially after you let Kodi get shot! Ya Boris told me, you hypocrite." Both looked as if they would kill each other at any moment.

"Stop it!" They immediately ceased their fighting and looked down at the source. In their rage they had not noticed that both Loki and Suki had heard their fill.

"They are right." Boris cut in. "You two have to work together if we are ever going to get home." Boris stepped between them and separated them. Both snapped back to their senses.

"Boris is right, we need to get home." Balto said.

"Right." Steele responded without blinking.

"Good, now we need to find out way out of here." Boris finished. The sound of running water could be heard nearby. "And that could be it." They walked down the tunnel and found the source of the sound. An underground river, the river was not particularly appetizing, but they were not here to quench their thirst. In a tunnel on the other side was the amber glow of a light. The river was slow moving and relatively shallow looking. Suki was perhaps a bit too eager to get out of the sewer. She ran up to the side of the river and saw some flotsam in it.

"We can just go over these logs here." She began to jump over to one of the logs when Balto saw a pair of eyes in the water. He quickly snatched the scruff of Suki's neck and pulled her back away from the side of the river as a pair of massive jaws came in and closed in the space she once occupied.

"What in the world?" Steele asked.

"I thought it was just a myth." Stella said.

"What's a myth?" Loki asked.

"That was a crocodile." Balto answered. "Basically an overgrown lizard with a big mouth. They aren't supposed to be here."

"Does it matter?" Stella asked. "How are we supposed to get around them and out?"

"I have idea." Boris said rubbing his chin with a wing. "But, Stella, you won't be liking it much." He told them all his plan.

"Your right, I don't like it." Stella said as she leveled a glare at Boris. "But I don't see any other way out of this labyrinth so I guess we have no choice. Ready?"

"No, but I am prepared." Boris smirked. Both took off and flapped over the crocodiles.

"Hey lizard lips!" Both of the crocodiles snapped their attention to them and made a disapproving grunt in return. "Ya over here ugly, we taste good!" Stella shouted.

"Perhaps bit too much." Boris whispered. Behind the crocodiles, Balto and Steele seized the initiative; they picked up the pups and slung them onto their backs. They all quickly began to wade across the feted water. The crocodiles turned and saw them but Boris flapped in front of them.

"Hey big boy, what happened when the crocodile walked into the bar?" in response the crocodile snapped at him and nearly had a goose for dinner. "Oh, so I see you have no love for humor!" Boris continued to distract the reptile while not getting eaten. On the far side he could see Balto and Steele had successfully made it to the other side.

"Stella, they are across, let's get out of here!" Boris yelled. Boris and Stella tried to break away from their scaled adversaries but the crocodiles snapped up in the air and blocked their path.

"Hey Boris, did you have a good plan for this." Stella asked.

"Not exactly." The crocodiles continued to snap at them and they had been pressed up against the ceiling, ever while the predators jumped ever higher. From the side of the river of sludge, Balto saw their predicament and decided to do something about it. He found a large plank of wood on his side and picked it up with his mouth. The wood tasted foul, but he was short on options. He stood the plank up on its end and let it fall on the crocodiles with a solid thud. The creatures sank beneath the murky water for just long enough for Boris and Stella to escape before they jumped up again. Boris landed on Balto and hugged him to the point of choking.

"Oh thank you boychik! We thought our goose was cooked."

"Come on Boris, I'm not just going to sit there and let you flap in the breeze."

"I'd hate to rain on your pun parade here Howler, but can we get out of here? I forgot what clean air smells like." Steele said.

"Don't get too excited. This is Chicago after all." Stella returned.

"Who cares, it's oxygen." Loki said as he walked toward the amber glow of the Chicago night. The group had made their way out of the labyrinth of the sewers and into the urban jungle outside.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 Bad for Business

South Chicago April 8, 1929

The car bounced up and down on the streets of Chicago. Andre drove by streets he would normally never come within a mile of, but this was hardly normal. The headlights of the car lit up the dismal scene, boarded up homes and businesses lined the streets, and the alleys were covered in dirt and grime. The street was dilapidated and the poor suspension in the car made that painfully evident. A light rain had started up and was making the already poor road evermore dangerous.

"So where is this place anyway Rouliani, we've been driving around here forever." Rouliani ignored him, as he was busy with his nose in some kind of book. Andre shoved him to get his attention.

"Hey! Wake up! Where am I supposed to go?" Rouliani closed up the leather-bound book and smacked Andre on top of the head with it.

"Shut it, take the next left, I'm making sure we weren't tailed." Rouliani went back to his book and continued to study it.

"What is that thing anyway?" Andre asked. Rouliani had been leafing through it for nearly a half hour and had hardly blinked since opening it.

"Call it my little black book, it is what I use for record keeping, that and it makes for easy accounting. Andre snuck a peek inside and saw the names and descriptions of people, animals, services and other nefarious deeds. It made sense as Rouliani was one of the best smugglers Andre had come across.

"This turn?" Andre asked, referencing the upcoming street. Rouliani looked up and took off his glasses.

"Yeah, that's it" The car turned down the street and it looked a mess, boxes and crated were piled on either side in no particular order and the ground was wet from the rain. There was one thing that looked completely out of place here. A well built and customized luxury car. The exclusive vehicle had all of the modern amenities from fine Italian leather to what looked like supercharger. It was the pinnacle of luxury and was anointed in a flashy cherry red paint job.

"What a car. What is that, a Morgan?" Rico said as he took in the machine.

"If you want to gawk at somebody else's car then go to a damn car show we have work to do." Andre said, rather annoyed. Rouliani walked up to a metal door and knocked twice. A slit in the door opened.

"Mary had a little lamb." a voice said from the other side.

"Its fleece was gold." Rouliani said back. A series of clicks and knocks on the other side gave a hint of the security on the other side. When the door opened it revealed two men with trench coats, likely concealing body armor, both also held a shotgun in their hands with the barrels leveled out the door on the other side. Rico made a small noise when he saw the weapons pointed at him.

"Easy gentlemen." Rouliani held up a hand. "These men are with me." The shotgun toting guards exchanged a look and lowered their weapons. "Good, now will you three kindly follow me down?" Rouliani led them inside. There was a narrow stairway heading underground, Tony had a hard time getting his heavily muscled frame down the confined space. At the bottom of the stairway was what looked like a small rail with what looked like coal cars on it.

"It used to be a coal transport system so they could heat the buildings in the Loop. I arranged this little offshoot to transport something altogether more profitable." Andre flipped on a flashlight and shown the light inside of the car. Inside, no less than a hundred glass bottles reflected the light back at him, the amber liquid inside casting a warm glow. Rouliani snatched up a bottle and pulled off the cork. He lifted the bottle to his lips and tipped it back slightly.

"Ah, best we have, want a sip?" Rouliani held out the bottle to Andre.

"I'm good." Andre returned. Rico however, accepted the bottle and took a swig of the whiskey. The skinny man coughed after the liquor flowed into his mouth, the swig of the alcohol burned wonderfully all the way down.

"My is that strong!"

"180 proof, and about bucks twenty a bottle. This gentlemen, is liquid gold." Farther down the tunnel, a loud bluster could be heard. Followed by the sharp sound of a slap in the face. A man ran out of the darkness with a bruise developing on his face. Who came next was none other than Capone, Andre had a short look of contempt sweep over him then he quickly returned to normal.

"Burned to the ground? The whole damn place burned to the ground?" Capone bellowed. He stared Rouliani in the eye and smacked him with the back of his hand across Rouliani's face. The signet ring on his one finger cut into the poor man's cheek, leaving a gash behind. "Do you know how much we had in that hole?" Rouliani began to answer but Capone hit him in the gut. "Don't talk till I say so! Guns, money, booze, you're stupid animals. Millions of dollars of product, all of it burnt or in the hands of the damn cops!" Capone hit him again, doubling Rouliani over; next Capone kicked him in the gut and knocked him into the side of the wall. Capone produced a pistol and pointed it in Rouliani's face. "Do you know how much you are worth to me? Less than the bullet in this gun, so I'm not gonna shoot you like some dog. Take him away." Capone's bodyguard wrestled Rouliani off of the floor and dragged him down the dark tunnel. Andre began to walk after him.

"Hey where do you think you are going with him?" Capone stuck the handgun into Andre's face, stopping him in his tracks.

"Mr. Zacherov, don't you even move you Ruski piece of crap. You are not family, the only reason you three haven't eaten a bullet yet is because I know that those dogs you got escaped and are wandering around town. I want them back, and you are the best at what you do. So get going, take Rouliani's car before I change my mind."

"I just wanted to tell him this." Andre hit Rouliani in the chest, making the sort Italian gag. "That is for being an ass."

"Aright that is enough, if anybody is gonna pound the piss out of this dumbass, it's gonna be me." Capone turned away, but before he did he pointed to the ground where Rouliani was before, there was a small pool of blood there. "And somebody clean this up!" The gangster stalked down the dark passageway and Andre looked at the small black book in his hand. He slipped it into his jacket without arousing suspicion.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 No Rest for the Weary

Chicago April 9, 1929

Ever since they had stumbled out of the sewers of Chicago and into the alley, none of them could think of anything but food. Now that the moon was high and was casting a dark blue hue on the city below. It was time Balto did something about the growling coming from his stomach. He lifted his head up and repeatedly sniffed, trying to find a clue for food. The scents of any food were drastically squelched by the smell of the alley and the surrounding city and caused Balto to caught and gag. Steele and Boris looked on at him and his disagreement with the city air.

"Hey boychik, are you alright?" Boris asked.

"I'm fine, just not used to the air here I guess." Balto said between coughs. Suki saw a tube coming out of the building next to them and read the sign next to it.

"Papi, you were sniffing up a garbage shoot." she said. Balto looked above him and saw the same thing.

"Oh, oops. That kinda makes me look dumb doesn't it?"

"Hey, you finally figured it out." Steele said with a slight laugh.

"You're hilarious." Balto returned sarcastically. "So, what are we gonna do now? Just take in the sights wait for Duke and Jake to find us?"

"I don't know if that is good idea." Boris tossed in his two cents. "We are still lost in city, yes? And this place is so big it makes Moscow look like backwater."

"Whatcha mean Boris?" Steele asked worryingly.

"Well," Boris put out his wings apologetically. "Animal control, streets and cars, and I don't think we have heard the last of your gangster friends. Stella grew up in New York, she can tell you." Boris looked around and noticed her absence. "Hey, wait one minute, were is she? Stella!" Boris shouted. Stella's voice called out from above.

"What is with the shouting flyboy?" She landed on top of a dumpster and hopped down to the ground. "I was only gone for five minutes; anyway, I found something for us to eat."

"Food? Say no more." Balto cut in. "Lead the way." Soon, Stella and Boris were back in the air and the dogs were doing their best not to be seen. The back alleys and side streets of the Chicago Loop were nothing to write home about. Loki stepped in a puddle of what he thought was water but soon found out that it hardy resembled H2O and smelled foul.

"Eah, what is this stuff?" He said smelling his front paw.

"Motor oil." Balto said. "And dirty oil at that. After sticking your head in a plane's engine, one doesn't forget that particular smell."

"Can we tally how many baths we have to take later, like after we eat?" Suki piped up.

"I agree, you'll be fine Loki." Steele told his son.

"Yes papa." They got back on their way and continued to follow Stella through the maze of the city. Within minutes, Balto could now smell the water of the Great Lakes and saw Stella and Boris descend in front of them. They caught up and Balto took a look around. A park was on the other side of the street and the lake was beyond that. Through the midnight fog, he could see the lighthouse blinking in the distance. As well, a street full of cars even though it was till late at night. However he saw no source of food.

"Hey Stella, I thought you said you found food." He said. Stella pointed into the air.

"You need to learn to look up when you are in a city, country dog." Above them was a neon sign.

Vito's Fine Meats and Delicatessen

"Oh, that will do."

"Hey Howler, remember the last time we broke into a butcher shop?" Steele said salivating and licking his chops.

"Do I? I remember discovering sausage, and then getting used as swatting practice by the butcher."

"Worth it." Steele said in return.

"So Stella, you wouldn't happen to have a skeleton key or something would you?" Stella kicked over the empty garbage can she was sitting on, revealing a small hole in the wall.

"Or something."

"Stella, I could kiss you right now." Balto wanted to dive into the butcher shop.

"No thanks, I know where that doggie-tongue has been." Stella said putting a wing around Balto's mouth.

"Hold on bud, not sure if you noticed, but, we can't fit through here." Stella pointed to the hole, which was only a few inches in diameter.

"Well Suki and I can." Loki estimated. "She and I can sneak in and grab some food, then bring it back out."

"Hmm," Balto mulled it over in his head. The place was still closed and the smell of the smoked meat made him drool, no argument. "Alright, just be safe." Both pups charged into the hole and squeezed through.

"Meat might be good for you four, but me and flyboy here are gonna find something more our speed." Stella said as she and Boris took off towards the park. Loki and Suki made their way into the shop and inside was dog heaven.

"Whoa." Loki scanned the walls and saw every kind of meat imaginable. Suki went to work securing a long chain of linked sausage and Loki tackled a rack of ribs. While they wrangled with the meat, outside the others were watching the cars rumble by. Steele noticed something wrong with Balto as he stared of into the distance.

"Something on that mind of yours?" Balto broke his glassy gaze and turned around.

"What?"

"What is wrong?" Steele knew that he was not all there, everything from his late behavior to the way he walked screamed something was amiss.

"I just haven't been myself lately."

"Gee, thanks Sherlock. Why?"

"When I saw Kodi get shot, I never got to say anything to him, I didn't know if he was going to die or not." Balto deftly covered over a chink in his armor but Steele knew him too well. "I guess I've been a little on edge since."

"Well, I won't disagree with that last bit. But Boris said Kodi will be fine, that isn't what is really under your skin is it?"

"Ya, I've been meaning to apologize for earlier, we almost killed each other."

"No harm done, I know how you feel; I shouldn't have said what I said." Steele felt his pain, reviewing his words, they both sounded like children.

"You did, actually, it kind of brought into light how deadly it is out here. To be honest, I've never been this far from home for so long before."

"Do you want me to tell you something?"

"Sure."

"This doesn't get any easier, I mean, before when we were facing the elements and all up north, we knew what to do. But here, the Urban Jungle is not my kind of forest."

"What's your point?" Balto was confused at Steele's talking in circles.

"My point is, we need to be particularly careful here, one mistake could mean disaster."

"You don't think I didn't figure that out already? Why else would I be so touchy?"

"Well, at least we can agree on something." They heard a rustle behind them, both being on high alert; swiveled their heads around but saw nothing. Considering investigating, Steele took a step forward but heard the children returning through the hole with dinner. Not wanting to worry them, he stopped. The pups came out of the hole with enough meat to sate a lion. The links of sausage and rack of ribs plopped down, followed by a pair of succulent steaks.

"Nice work you two." Steele patted Loki on the head and tore into one of the steaks while Balto bit into a sausage.

"Mmm, I donno, city life isn't too bad." The sausage was filled with spices and vegetables, making it taste like a whole meal. The pups tackled the ribs and after they ripped off the meat, they chewed on the bones, quietly contemplating themselves.

"I don't know who this Vito guy is." Steele said between bites. "But he knows his way around a porterhouse." It was the first time in days they had a chance to stop and rest. The unforgiving city was pounding them into the ground, but for now, it was bearable. Balto began work on his third sausage when the sound of a breaking bottle crashed behind him. He turned again, this time he saw the pinkish tail of what he knew was a rat. He bound up and caught the rat by his tale in one motion.

"Ah! Please don't eat me! I'm not with them!" Steele stood next to Balto and began to interrogate the rat.

"Them who?" A rustle behind the dumpsters began and dozens of large, jet black lumps of fur began spilling out. The rats had come from nowhere and quickly began to surround them, each baring a mouthful of nasty yellow teeth. Their despicable eyes glowered at the four dogs. Balto dropped the rat he was holding and it scurried away and darted around the dark corner.

"Suki, Loki, get behind us!" Balto ordered. He and Steele sized up the rats surrounding them; there were no less than three hundred pairs of the red-eyes staring at them.

"So Howler, what kind of stratagem you have for this one." Steele said with a slight inflection of trepidation in his voice.

"I'll get back to you in five." Balto scanned the rats, looking for a way out of their predicament, but it looked like they were all trapped. A large and fat rat muscled his way through the swarm and Balto saw he had a scar where one of his eyes used to be. The rat opened his mouth and began to speak.

"Dogs, you have invaded our territory, you have violated the Pact, when we send your bodies back to Bismarck and the Pack, he will know better."

"Wait!" Balto yelled "We don't know what you are talking about! We aren't with any Pack, and I've never even met anyone named Bismarck. We're just lost-"

"Shut up! I'm going to personally rip out that lying dog tongue of yours!"

"Please, you have to believe me!" Balto pleaded in vain.

Enough tear them apart!" The rat rallied his army of rats and sent them after the dogs.

"How's about that miracle that is gonna save our skins?" Steele asked.

"Ya, fight for your life!" Balto said as he kicked away a rat. Steele turned and caught a rat attacking him. He picked it up by its neck and tossed it away, trying not to take things too far.

"Die!" The rat shouted.

"Steele, forget about trying not to hurt them! This is do or die." Balto finished off the rat had pinned to the ground. Steele cut loose as well; he let his instincts take over. Both of the large dogs fought off and killed any rat that came near. Loki and Suki had also been forced into the fray. Loki bit into a rat and brought it down. Suki kicked one in the chin and pirouetted over it, then pounced on top of it. Despite their prowess, they were hopelessly outnumbered and the uphill battle looked unwinnable. Before them the ocean of attackers continued to spill out at them. Balto could see Steele was being overrun and he could not hold out much longer. Balto jumped on top of him, acting as an improvised shield. After all of the perils of the north, bears, blizzards, avalanches, and they would lose out to a swarm of vermin, how trite. As they consider surrender, the sound of paws stamping on the ground and barking echoed throughout the brick and concrete. One of the rats shouted over the combat.

"It's the Pack! We need to get out of here!" The rats broke off their campaign and scattered, before departing, the fat rat turned and glared at Balto.

"Next time you won't be so luckily." He then slipped under a fence and disappeared. The sounds grew nearer and seven large dogs appeared around a corner. They joined the fight and made a circle around the four injured comrades. Any rats that had not already ran away, ran for their lives. After the last one vanished, one of the dogs turned to Balto. He was a large black and tan German shepherd with a lean and strong build that exuded a sense of command and respect. He stared into Balto with his yellow eyes.

"Gutentag, I take it you are the ones Martin told me about." The dog said in a slightly accented voice. The rat Balto had by the tail earlier came out from behind him and waved. "I am Bismarck, and you are?"

"Balto, my friend here is Steele. The two pups are Suki and Loki." Boris and Stella had seen the fight from above and came in, landing next to them. "And that is Boris and Stella. Were grateful for the rescue."

"My pleasure, Claudius has been using any excuse to attack us. Come; let's get your wounds taken care of." With the adrenaline wearing off, Balto could feel every nick and bite on him and he felt like had been in front of a driving range at a golf course. He attempted to follow Bismarck and the others but fell and had a hard time getting up. Boris flapped down and began to look him over. Bismarck took notice of Balto's wounds and turned to another of his dogs.

"It isn't safe to stay here, we're going to have to go back home." He whispered, the other dog nodded in agreement and Bismarck began to shout orders like a general.

"Hamey, Katja, get over here and grab him." Another German shepherd and a collie ran up to Balto and kept him on his feet. "I don't like this place, were done here. You two, Boris and Stella, I need you in the air watching for any more of these rats." Both simply nodded and took off. Circling above them, Boris saw nothing dangerous and tipped a wing to Bismarck, who instructed the dogs with him to follow. They all ran down back alleyways and side streets with two other dogs propping up Balto the whole way. Steele and the others had not received as much punishment and could run at a decent pace. Just as they were told, Boris and Stella circled over them and kept good note of anything that came close. Soon the sights and sounds of the city were slowly replaced by the soft and rhythmic sounds of the waves coming off the lake. As they progressed, the ground became more and more rocky. Much to the pity of Balto, who had a hard time on the softer ground. Nearly two hours later, Balto felt like he was home, around him was a hilly woodland with tall and thin trees scatted about with a few homes and cabins. They turned into a dirt road and Balto saw a sign.

Swartz Auto Junkyard

Balto was rushed underneath something and felt being place onto a bed before losing consciousness to exhaustion.


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 Junkyard Blues

Swartz Auto Junkyard April 8, 1929

By the time Balto had come to, the full moon had now come up to the apex of its height in the sky. He took in his surroundings. What he had spent the night in was nothing more than a metal box with a mattress inside. The outside of the box was not much better. All he could see was row after row of old, ramshackle cars and discarded appliances. Behind the sea of junk, the tips of trees crested over and in the distance, the hazy city loomed over the whole landscape. The one of the dogs that rescued him saw him return to the land of the living. The dog approached and Balto saw something familiar, piercing yellow eyes.

"Feeling better? You were a mess a few hours ago, but it seems the bites are healing quickly."

"Who are you again?" Balto asked.

"Bismarck." The dog answered in a taciturn manner, the subtle slant of his accent was still there.

"Where am I?" Balto asked, still seeming in a daze.

"Give or take fifty miles north of the city, not the metropolis of Chicago but-" Bismarck noticed Balto was not following, "What do you remember, exactly?"

"A bunch of rats, a fight, then, wait where are my friends?" Balto began to get up but Bismarck put a paw down on him.

"Easy, they are safe and sound. Steele and Boris filled me in on most of what happened. I'm sorry this happened to you."

"Well, we survived, I guess that means something." Balto responded half jokingly.

"Just be glad you didn't end up with rabies, these rats are filthy." Balto looked himself over, he could see dozens of tiny cuts that had done a good job of healing themselves and the pain had also lessened, albeit only by a small margin.

"Well, I guess my luck is finally changing." He said trying not laugh.

"Let us hope it is for the better. You and your friends are welcome to stay here as long as you wish. We don't have much, but, we will never turn away those in need."

"Thank you, really, thank you. Balto had never seen such compassion out of a dog before, by now most would either cringe in fear or threaten him.

"Not at all, it was my pleasure." Another shepherd came in, not knowing that Balto was up.

"Father, we are almost out of food for the dens, again-" He now saw that Balto was in fact awake. "Oh, my apologies, I am Lucas, good to see you are up." Bismarck looked at him and said

"Alright, I will talk with you about it after I bring our new friend here up to speed. Do me a favor and fetch your mother if you would."

"Will do." The dog turned and left in the same direction that he came.

"So Bismarck, what is your story?"

"There isn't much of one, I was brought here as a pup with the family from Germany to be a guard dog for this scrap metal. I couldn't fathom how my fellow canine lived on the other side of the river. City dogs, strays, pick a name, at the end of the day they are all the same, lost. When I did see that world, I just had to do something."

"What did you do?"

"What was necessary?" Bismarck said as if it were obvious.

Near Chicago, August 7, 1927

The truck rattled around on the dirt road and Bismarck felt like losing more than his pride on the bed of the vehicle. He hated going into town. The first time he did he was just a pup. That ended with the sticking of multiple needles into his neck, legs and hindquarters. Not his favorite experience to say the least, coupled with the motion sickness, he was enduring his own private torture. He laid down on the metal bed of the truck and closed his eyes. He didn't open them until the truck finally came to a stop and he felt as if he could kiss the ground. His owner got out of the truck holding a long leather leash. He hooked it into Bismarck's matching collar and tied him off to a post.

"I'll be right back, stay here boy." He scratched Bismarck's ears and walked through a door. Bismarck sat down and took in the towers and structures around him. The glistening tops of the skyscrapers cut into the air the windows flashed the light in all directions. What was below them was not quite as beautiful, most of the other buildings were rather dull and brown. Between them the alleys, a seeming funnel for all of the dirt and debris. The last thing he expected to see was in front of him. Another shepherd like himself, wandering the side streets. Bismarck could tell she was malnourished as her ribs shown through and her stride was broken and awkward. She tripped on a grate and fell. At the seeing of this Bismarck strained on his leash and pulled out to its extent. She was not getting up and looked as if she would not make it. Bismarck tried to get off of the leash to no avail, thinking quickly, he noticed the poor knot his master had tied around the post. Bismarck went to work on it; he grabbed hold of the loosest part and yanked on it. The knot slowly but surely surrendered and he was free. Checking the street for any hazards, he sprinted across. The other shepherd was in a bad way. She was even more emaciated than he could think was possible and live. He gave her a nudge with his nose and her eyes fluttered open, revealing a pair of amber jewels staring back at him.

"Who are you?" she said weakly "Am I dead?"

"Bismarck, and not yet. Do you have a name?" Her eyes widened and glassed over, she appeared to be crying, out of pain or sadness, Bismarck was at a loss.

"Ripley." She said back to him in a small and weak voice.

"Alright Ripley, can you stand?"

"Please, you have to help me, they're after me!" Bismarck instinctively poked his head up and surveyed the area. Nothing was around them and there was no sound other than the roar of the cars as they passed, too quiet. Ripley attempted to stand and fell back down; Bismarck caught her on the way down and helped her up.

"Nice reflexes." She said, trying to distract herself.

"Thanks, let's get you out of here, yes?"

"Yes, let's get going. Where exactly?"

"Across the street, my master has a truck; we can get you to safety and a meal for you." At the sound of possible food, a new spring appeared in her stride. A bottle broke behind them. They both turned and Ripley let out a frightened noise. A dozen large black rats were at their rear. One stood and stared at Bismarck.

"You there, what do you think you are doing?"

"I'm helping her, what does it look like?" Bismarck shot back.

"No, you will leave her and go back where you came from, she is ours, my family is hungry." Ripley's eyes widened glassed over again. This was enough to bring Bismarck to a point of rage.

"Over my dead body." he said in a thunderous calmness.

"That can be arranged, let it be known that Claudius killed two dogs today." The rat charged and his compatriots followed after their leader. Bismarck dropped Ripley and prepared for the onslaught. He batted one rat away with a paw, sending it end over end. He caught another in his mouth and broke its neck. Next came Claudius, Bismarck swatted him with a clawed paw, hitting him in the face and tearing into it. Claudius flew off to the side and Bismarck concentrated on the others. He quickly dispatched another four. The rest of the rats broke their assault and ran. Claudius among them.

"Let it be known that Claudius ran away with his tail between his legs!" Bismarck shouted after them. With the rats now gone. He turned his attention to Ripley, who had a dead rat in her mouth; it was likely the first thing in her mouth in days. "Are you going to be alright?"

"I think so." She spat the rodent out. "Eah, these things are disgusting."

"Right, let's go across and get in. Hold on to me and don't stop." She grabbed hold of the leash that was still attached to him and held on as he told her. They dodged cars and did a wonderful job of stopping traffic as they crossed. A few impatient motorists honked on them as they ran by. Bismarck led her back to the truck and she collapsed in front of him.

"I'm just going to take a quick nap." She said half out of it. The second she finished talking, she passed out.

"Ripley! Can you hear me? Ripley!" Bismarck's owner came out of the store holding two large bags full of groceries and peaked over them and saw the scene. He tossed the bags into the truck and ran over to Ripley. He looked at Bismarck and back at her. He seemed to read Bismarck's mind and picked Ripley up and gently placed her in the back of the truck. Bismarck bounded up next to her and the truck sped off down the road.

"So Bismarck, I have to ask, did she make it?" Balto asked as Bismarck finished.

"Well I hope so; either that or I am a very convincing ghost." A feminine voice said from outside the metal box that Balto was residing in. The voice was now matched by a face. Another German shepherd that came in and nuzzled Bismarck.

"Hello dear." Bismarck was putty in her paws. Balto wondered if anyone thought that when they saw he and Jenna together.

"I take it you are the ones that Claudius went after this time? Bastard rat, I'd like to give him a taste of his own medicine. Unfortunately he is his own medicine, and I know from experience rat is disgusting." Ripley said with a witty smile. Balto took a look at her, she seemed to be at the peak of health, and that she had a curious circular marking all the way around her neck. The evidence of a chain.

"So does that mean that Lukas and Katja are your-"

"First-borns. They were the only two I had my first time round and they were inseparable. No one came to buy them, so they stay here with us." Ripley said. "We make this the most well protected scrap for a hundred miles"

"Then who is everybody else?" Balto asked. Bismarck stood and motioned for Balto and Ripley to follow.

"They are the Pack, a group of strays and wayward dogs that I have found and helped over the years. We need to keep them out here, away from the house and street to avoid animal control. It has not been easy finding enough food for them, but we manage. Only lately has it become exceptionally hard. The rats horde everything, for months we fought over it and came up with nothing. Finally, Claudius and I declared territories and the fighting were supposed to stop," Bismarck shook his head. "But he violates it constantly."

Balto noticed their surroundings and noticed a flaw in this.

"Did you ever consider hunting in the woods?"

"We have tried in the past; to make a long short, we failed miserably. We are simply not good hunters; many of us are not powerful enough to take down anything much larger than a rabbit anyway. The few of us that rescued you were the only ones currently capable among us. The others, they are too young, too old, or too preoccupied to hunt."

"Wait, how many of you are there?" Balto only saw no more than ten in front of him. Bismarck motioned to a panel of metal siding. He lifted it up revealing a large space in the junk-pile. Inside Balto saw three females, each with a gaggle of pups huddled around them. "It is spring. And well, you know. We are called the Pack for a reason."

"I guess that is what you meant by preoccupied. Maybe I can help you folks with this. Call it repayment for saving us." Bismarck cocked his head and looked as if he didn't understand.

"Hunting? What would you know about that?"

"You might say it is in my family."

"In your family?"

"Don't spread this around, my mother was a wolf." Bismarck's eyes widened and he really looked Balto over for the first time, noting his features. Now observing Balto's stature and build it was obvious what he was. By now most that noticed either ran away or got aggressive and told him to take a hike, but Bismarck only said.

"I'll be damned, you are half wolf. Don't worry friend, I couldn't care what you are, just as long as you are _who _I think you are." Balto smiled and continued on his former point.

"Anyway, I think I can help you out here; and my buddy, Steele, he managed to survive for months in the Alaskan wilderness in winter, alone."

"Did you leave the part about how I would have died if I wasn't rescued?" Steele asked from behind them.

"How long have you been there?"

"About thirty seconds. So Howler, you want to help them with food? I mean I'm grateful for all you and your family have done for us Bismarck, you literally saved our necks, and you have given us all this hospitality but-, ah hell, I talked myself into it. Okay, I'll be glad to help out." Bismarck had a glint in his eye and nodded his head slightly.

"Excellent, we can begin tomorrow at dawn. The sooner you two can teach us to survive out here, the sooner we can teach you how to survive the city and get home.

"Sounds like a deal." Balto answered cheerfully.

"I will let you go and rest for now. I imagine you four have had quite the last few days" Bismarck left them and rejoined Ripley, both slipped around a corner of junk and made for the home on the other side of the yard.

Balto turned and followed Steele back to Loki and Suki, both of which were passed out over each other. "This is so hard on them." Balto said softly.

"They're good kids, they'll be fine." Steele said to him.

"Have you told Loki the truth yet?"

"No, I don't know how he'll take it. Every time I think about telling him, I think about you and Aleu and the train-wreck that followed." Steele looked into the ground; he knew it may have just as well been a minefield.

"Don't remind me, Jenna still hasn't gotten completely over it." Balto said solemnly.

"Did you?" Steele asked, turning his head back towards him.

"Accept what my daughter was and what she has chosen? Yes. Do I miss her? Always." Balto returned.

"But would you do anything differently, changed something?"

"All things considered, no. Sometimes, these things are out of our paws, some things just have to happen, it doesn't mean we have to like it though. If I had, the entire wolf clan she is leading now would be dead; I could not live with that on my conscience." Steele thought about what Balto said and came to a conclusion.

"When you put it that way, maybe I should talk to him about it, it's time I stopped lying to him." Steele sighed and curled up around the pups to keep them warm. "Doesn't mean this is going to be easier."


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16 No Stone Unturned

Chicago April 8, 1929

The car came around the corner and stopped. Liz shut off the engine and opened her door. Duke got out of the passenger seat and Jake popped out of the back. Next to them was Vito's Fine Meats and Delicatessen.

"Every dog in Chicago, stray or no, finds this place eventually." Liz pointed up to the neon sign.

"Why?" Jake asked.

"Other than the obvious, Vito smokes a lot of his meat in house. It's like a magnet for any meat lover, dogs included."

"Forget I asked." Jake felt dumb for not paying attention. Liz walked to the door and looked around. Duke turned down the alley and saw the mess. A heap of dead rats and liberated meats lay strewn throughout the alleyway.

"Hey, I think I found something!" Jake and Liz ran to the alley and Jake switched on a flashlight. Upon seeing the scene in the beam of light he let out a low whistle.

"It looks like a tornado tore through here." Jake said. Duke knelt down and examined the rats on the ground. Many had bite marks on them and had broken bones. Next to them was a pile of half eaten meats.

"Look, how much do you want to bet they got in and took these?" Jake pointed his light at the pile of bones and half eaten sausages. Some of the bones had peculiar marks on them that threw up a red flag.

"Loki lost one of his teeth the other day, an incisor, and this bone only has three marks, it has to be them."

"Great, but I've never known Balto to leave a sausage behind, so where are they known?" Duke continued to look in the alley and saw a single line black tracks leading away from the scene. He knelt down and put a finger in the track; he rubbed his fingers together and smelled it. "Motor oil, somebody stepped in it."

"It's a lead, not sure how far it will take us though." Liz interjected. "You two follow these; I'll get in touch with my FBI friend."

"Alright, go ahead; we'll call if we find anything." Liz walked back to the car and got in. Jake and Duke turned back down the alley, following the tracks.

"Dibs." Jake said after she was out of earshot.

"What?" Duke looked at him like he was drunk.

"Dibs." Jake said again, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

"On the detective girl? All yours, I like brunettes, besides, I think I already pissed her off anyway." Jake shown the light onward and continued to walk down the dark alleyway following the jet black tracks. Unbenuonced to them, a pair of binoculars followed their every move.

"Follow them, and god damnit be discrete." The car door opened and Tony and Rico got put they quickly ran across the street. Andre went back to taking notes though his binoculars. Tony and Rico stealthily made their way to the alley and began to tail Duke and Jake.

"So, how far do you think these tracks go?" Duke asked. Jake shrugged his shoulders in response.

"No idea."

"I for one can't wait to find them; this walking thing is for the birds." Duke sat on a garbage can for a break.

"Damn strait, this has been a long day." Jake waived the flashlight up and down the alley; the beam of light lit up the dirty path and the line of black tracks. "And it looks like it is gonna be a bit longer, these tracks go on forever." The sound of a bottle breaking echoed down the alley and Duke's head spun towards it.

"What was that?" Duke yelped. Jake pointed the light in the direction of the sound. In the beam of light were the remains of a broken glass bottle.

"Calm down Aunt Susan, it was probably just a rat; this stink hole is probably teeming with 'em." Jake shone the light on the walls next to him, pointing out the grime, there was so much the red of the brick was almost completely obscured.

"Eah, let's get going." Duke stood back up. Another sound echoed through the alley, a heavy boot in a puddle. Emanating from the other side of the dumpster.

"That ain't no rat." Jake said. He and Duke exchanged a look and drew their weapons. Jake came around the dumpster. As he did a hulking man charged him and tackled him. The force of the impact knocked the gun from his hands. Duke recognized the attacker in an instant; it was Tony. Jake was doing his best to fight of the man with fifty pounds on him. Duke lined up a shot with his 45 when a closed fist blindsided Dukes jaw. Rico had also come out of the shadows in ambush. Rico came around for another swing, but Duke deflected it with his free hand. Duke countered with by hitting Rico in the side of the head with his weapon and then kicking him in the gut. Duke grabbed Rico and put him into a head lock. Now with Rico under control, he leveled his gun at Tony again.

"Get off of him or so help me." Duke said in a voice Jake had never heard come out of him. Tony looked as if he had the fear of god put into him. He quickly put his hands in the air and got off of Jake. "You ok buddy?" Duke asked Jake. Jake put a hand on bleeding lip and felt his black eye. He hit Tony in the gut, making the large man double over.

"Better now, jackass." Duke heard a subtle click behind his head. He knew the sound well; it was the same sound his 45 made every time he cocked it. Andre had decided to join the party.

"Are you two nimrods capable of anything?" he asked. Duke silently cursed everything Chicago and put his hands in the air. His pistol was relieved of him by a gloved hand. Andre hid the weapon in his coat. "Hmm, nice gun. Don't tell me, Duke is it?" Andre turned to Jake. "And that makes you Jake. Good to see you again, how is your head?" Jake said nothing but stared at the man with burning eyes. "Tony, Rico, grab them and put them in the car. And pickup those backpacks." His subordinates did as they were told. Tony picked up Jake's bag and the Tommy gun fell out.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Andre picked up the gun and worked the action, a .45 hollow point round popped out of the side. "That is a government round, where did you get this? Are you a cop?" Duke spit on Andre's coat.

"I'm just a guy you managed to piss off."

"Take them and toss em in the car. Be careful with them, I don't want any more shit out these two."

They started back towards the street and a jet black car was awaiting them. Jake saw Liz on the far side of the street in her car; he put a hand down at his side a subtlety waived her off. Tony shoved both men back to and into the back of the car. Rico tossed the packs into the trunk. Tony and Rico got in the front while Andre sat next to their captives in back, keeping his gun on them at all times. The car started up and they began to make their way back to Rouliani's old safe house. During their entire journey, Duke took note of Andre and his weapon and saw something peculiar.

"That is an army pistol, standard issue, given to officers following the war."

"Very astute, I was a first lieutenant in the army." Andre responded.

"I was a second lieutenant in the Air Corp. Tell me Andre, how can a good man go from serving his country to serving a bunch of murderous thieves?" Andre was taken aback by the question.

"I'll answer that question after you follow this order, shut it." Andre jabbed Duke in the ribs with the skinny end of the 45.

"Hey boss." Tony said from the front. "We're here." Andre looked out the window. They had returned to the same back alley they had left from. This time, Capone's Morgan was nowhere in sight.

"You two are lucky, the big man is not here, yet. Get out." Andre knocked on the door. The slit opened again.

"Mary had a little lamb."

"Stuff it, and get word to the boss that we found these two." The eyes on the other side of the door drifted to Duke and Jake. Jake wondered if he would ever see the sun again as the sickening click of the door announced its opening.


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 We Have Ways

Chicago April 10, 1929

The water that splashed on Duke's may have as well been ice. He spit out the cold water into Rico's face.

"When I said I was thirsty, I meant for a glass of water." Rico smacked him upside the head in response.

"We have been at this for" Andre checked his watch. "Ten hours gentlemen." Andre said in a condescending tone. "If we were not so pressed for time I would let Rico and Tony alone with you for a while." Jake lifted his bruised face to talk.

"You don't have to worry about being called gentlemen trust me." Tony hit him in the gut again.

"Speak when spoken to!" Tony bellowed. Before Andre could continue his monologue, a knock came from the door and it opened. A man stuck his head in the room.

"Not to spoil your fun, but our dogs got spotted just outside of the city." Andre waived him off and turned back to Duke. "Well, this is awkward. You see, we now know the location of our prey. So that poses the question. What do I do with you two?" Andre removed his handgun from his holster. He leveled the barrel at Duke's head. Duke closed his eyes and heard a click. The gun did not fire. "Please, I'm not going to kill you in cold blood, I am not some monster." He hit Duke in the mouth with his left hand, busting open his lip. "Handcuff and tie them up in the storeroom, the boss will be here in a few hours. Rico and Tony quickly handcuffed both men. Next Tong picked up a coil of half inch thick marine rope and tied them together. They were then summarily tossed in the storeroom. The door was shut and the room went dark. The only light coming from gaps between the old wooden door and the wall around it. Duke heard the metal door to the outside open and slam shut.

"How are you holding up?" Duke asked his friend.

"It only hurts when I say ouch." Jake returned. Duke did his best not to laugh for fear of pain.

"So here we are. Locked up in a storeroom waiting for Balto and the others to get caught again, and then have this boss of theirs come and work us over. Sounds like the set up to a bad joke."

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" Jake said with clenched teeth.

"No, but you will be." Duke shifted his jaw and a bobby pin came out of his mouth. "Here's the punch line."


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 Hunting Trip

Swartz Auto Junkyard April 9, 1929

The morning sun peeked over the far off mountains and pierced through the trees. One tiny sliver managed to land on Balto's eyes. The gentle light brought him around and at first he thought he was home and had just survived a terrible nightmare. Jenna would he coming in any minute, then they would resume their daily routine and go off to see their grandchildren. If only all dreams were true. His eyes adjusted to the light and the dirty and littered junkyard came into focus. Balto stood up and felt stiff from sleeping on the flat mattress in a metal crate. The cool and dank night spent in the junkyard was not a vacation, it was still a hundred times better than the iron bars of his previous accommodations. Boris and Stella made a roost in one of the trees above and judging from the rhythmic honks, they were both still out. The junkyard was just the same as he had left it just a few hours before. The other dogs were busy getting ready to go on their little hunting trip. Bismarck already appeared to have been awake for some time and poked his head in.

"Guten morgen. Are you ready to head on out?"

"Absolutely, it has been a long time since I have been able to just go out in the wild for fun. My daughter and I used to all the time." He and Aleu spent months out in the forests surrounding Nome once upon a time, it is what likely prepared her for the challenge of pack leader. Steele as already half-way out the gate and heading to the tree line.

"Let's get a move on ladies, the sooner we hunt, the sooner we have breakfast."

"Amen to that." Balto responded and followed. Bismarck and a half a dozen others ranging in breed from shepherds to retrievers to collies followed their every move and mimicked their practices. Ever since Balto dropped the W word, every dog paid very close attention to him; whether or not this was to glean as much of what he had to give or to size him up as a threat was anyone's guess. One of the dogs came up from behind Balto.

"So you're going to teach us how to hunt?" It was Lucas, Bismarck's son.

"That is the general idea." Balto answered and continued walking. Lucas made a sour face and looked over his shoulder; most of the others were with Steele, far enough away not to hear.

"I thank you for helping us, but my father and I differ on how we should handle this."

"This what?" Balto saw a short flash of anger in the dog's eyes and then a regular demeanor return.

"This business with Claudius and his dirty rats, you saw what happened when we showed up, they all turned tail and ran away. Even you and your friend fought them off for a good deal of time, and there were just two of you."

"What is your point?" Balto felt a bit of deja'vu coming on.

"My point is, that instead of running around here looking for rabbits and chasing squirrels, we should take the fight to Claudius and end this once and for all, we have been beaten back every time because we never finish them off." Balto thought of an answer and remembered a lesson he had learned the hard way.

"Believe it or not, you are not the first that has said something like that to me. Years ago in Alaska, my daughter and I ran across a wolf clan, the clan was running low on food and had to abandon its home to stay alive. One of the wolves broke off and nearly destroyed the clan all together."

"What happened?" Lucas felt the anecdote was a bit too accurate.

"They decided to leave their home and survive elsewhere; only their alpha was too old to lead. Aleu however was a prime candidate; I had to choose between my daughter and the lives of dozens, it was not easy. In the end, we did what was right. They survived and then returned later on, stronger and greater than when they left." Lukas seemed disappointed when Balto finished.

"So you agree with my father then, that we should run from our battles?"

"No, I'm saying to choose your battles, defeating Claudius and his followers would allow the Pack to go into town, but you can't ignore the immediate needs of the others, that means food, clean water, shelter. It is the burden of leadership."

"He is right Lucas," Bismarck said from behind, his large shepherd ears picked up the entire conversation. "I would like to do nothing more than wipe Claudius from the face of the planet and create a lasting peace for us, but that peace will be meaningless if we all die of starvation in the interim." Lucas's eyes had the same flash of anger again.

"But we can find some food in the city if the rats would stop taking it!"

"True, but the city is dangerous enough as is. We have already lost too many to its cars and citizens."

"And Claudius, you forgot that rat bastard." Lukas spat out.

"Yes Claudius also, but I don't want you risking your life over this. I refuse to talk about this any further until we return home." Lucas shook his head and stared back what looked like tears.

"I'll scout ahead; see if I can't find anything." With that he charged off into the trees. Balto heard Bismarck let out a sigh.

"How long has he been this way?"

"Two months ago." Bismarck's face lost all emotion. "He and his friend, Jo, took off to go into town, against my wishes. They were ambushed by Claudius and Lukas fought them of and escaped. Jo however, was overrun and by the time I could make it there with a rescue party, we were too late. We searched for days but could not find hide or hair of her."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Balto regretted opening his mouth.

"He is still in pain, they grew up together. After that, Claudius and I came to an agreement, the Pact. It cordoned off the Loop and Mad Mile to them, and we took everything else. To keep tabs on that dirty rat, I employed certain rodents sympathetical to us, like Martin. He was the one that found me and saved your lives."

"What did Lukas think about the 'Pact'?"

"He was no fan of it. Ever since he lost his friend he has not come close to town, but still wanted to get revenge. The whole ordeal tore him apart, used to be so happy; I haven't seen him so much as simile since. I miss my son." Balto knew the difficulty of raising spirited children and knew how he would feel if he lost his best friend, he had.

"Bismarck, I'd hate to say it, but I think your son is right to a point. Claudius attacked us on sight without even talking to us, he would have killed us had you not shown up."

"I know, but I also know that we are running out of food fast; we barely made it through the last winter. And I know that we will have many more mouths to feed soon. Claudius is on the back-burner until I can get the Pack some way to survive the next."

"Which is why we are here." Balto reassured. As if on cue, Lukas came bounding out of the woods and stopped just in front of them.

"I think I found something! A bunch of rabbits over the next hill."Balto knew rabbits were fast and hard to catch when on the run, but knew how to get them.

"Alright, time for our first lesson. Grab the others and lead the way." Lucas went over to Steele and the other three dogs that had come along. Soon, all of them were stalking through the woods; the scent of the rabbits was getting stronger. Balto peeked around a tree and saw them. Eight clustered around, eating in the grass. Balto turned around.

"Here is what we'll do. Rabbits are good for food but are hard to catch. Steele you take two dogs with you and go around to the other side of the clearing we'll chase 'em to you."

"What makes you think they will come to us?" someone asked, it was Katja, Lucas's sister.

"Because, you and your brother will be funneling them towards the others. Just do what comes naturally. Oh and Bis ol' boy, that leaves you and me on chasing duty." Balto joked in Bismarck's direction.

"I'm not that old, and I could teach you a thing or two wolf dog." Bismarck returned with equal humor.

"Alright that settles it. Everyone else, just watch and take notes. Next time it will be you on the hunt." Balto finished. It was time to put their instincts to good use and sate their stomachs. Just as planned, Steele and his two volunteers were in place in some tall grass. Steele let loose a short howl that stirred up the rabbits. Like clockwork, Lucas and Katja jumped out of their hiding places to the rabbit's flanks. The rabbits bounded away in the direction of Bismarck and Balto, who jumped out at them and scared them into changing course. Now they were running right into the trap. Steele sprung it as the rabbits neared. Each dog lashed out and each caught a single furry morsel in their mouths and summarily wrestled them down. The three stood, each with a fat, limp, source of food.

"Nice work." Bismarck said, proud of the precision.

"Now that you know how, you guys can single handedly control the rabbit population here, which I must say shouldn't be hurting. You know what they say about rabbits and multiplying." Balto smirked.

"This is all well and good." Katja spoke up. "But how are we supposed to live off of rabbits alone? They're tasty, but they won't feed us all."

"What about deer?" Lukas said in reply "While I was looking for these rabbits, I saw tracks and deer droppings on my way. It shouldn't be too hard to find them." Balto knew a single deer would feed the whole Pack for a couple of days, but they are much harder to catch than rabbits, not to mention dangerous.

"That depends kid, how well do you know this forest?" he asked.

"Please, I grew up here; I know this place like the back of my paw."

"Alright, Katja can you and some of the others go back to the junkyard with the rabbits, they must be hungry back there." Katja left with two others, rabbits in tow and did as Balto instructed. He nodded to Lukas, who took off in the opposite direction at a quick pace. Lukas led the group around trees and over a hill, following the deer tracks. They were clear and fresh on the ground, meaning the deer were not too far away. The scent of their stinking bodies permeated the air and there was no mistaking them. They crested over the next hill and saw four in front of them, amidst the trees and shrubs.

"There they are." Balto said quietly "Deer are big and powerful, all that muscle makes for good food but be careful; males have the largest antlers and can spear you with them. Better to go after a female, if at all possible find one that is sick or injured, they'll be slower and weaker. The good news is that they are as skittish as the rabbits and are easy to direct. The bad news is they are as skittish as the rabbits; they will turn and run at any sound. Any questions?" No one asked a single quandary. Just as Balto said the deer were on high alert, but because they were upwind of the dogs, they could not smell their hunters. This time, everyone was hunting and stuck to the plan well. Luckily they were downwind of the deer and well concealed in the brush. It was more or less simple to repeat the same formation that they used on the rabbits. All was going according to plan when Lucas stepped on a twig, the snap gave them away too early and the deer began to run; one broke away and sprinted in the direction of Steele. He sprung up out of the path of the spooked deer but the deer kicked him in his side with his back leg, sending him tumbling over into the dirt.

"Steele!" Balto called out, his friend remained still as a statue. The others began to chase another wounded deer, Bismarck leapt on to it and bit it in the neck, the other dogs bit into its legs and sides wherever they could, the large beast slowed and eventually stopped, quickly submitting to the pack of dogs. Once satisfied it was dispatched, Bismarck ran back to Balto, who was attempting to get Steele moving. Steele was getting on his feet but looked like he was in pain, which he most certainly was.

"Steele, are you hurt?" Balto looked him over and saw that he had a distinctive limp on his front leg.

"I'm fine, just a sprain." Steele put the pain to the side and focused on just walking. Balto was amazed he could walk after taking a hit like that, Bismarck just gave a nod of approval.

"Good dog, let's get this back to the rest of the Pack, we can take a closer look at you there." The hunters dragged the deer behind them, with their tails high in the air; a good meal was assured tonight. When they returned, the other members of the pack stared in awe of the seven hundred pounds of meat in front of them and slowly licked their chops. Balto dug in and had a bit of the catch. The fresh venison would have cost a fortune in a restaurant but they had a nearly infinite supply in front of them. Steele went to work on a leg and made out like it was his last meal. Loki and Suki, who had spent the day helping the others in the junkyard were just as hungry and sated their own stomachs. After the meal of rabbits and deer, Balto returned to the metal crate for what he hoped was the last time and saw Steele walk pass him.

"Hey Steele, are you alright?"

"I'm fine; I'll be good to go tomorrow, really." Steele would be a good poker player if he had opposable thumbs; Balto couldn't tell if he was lying or not.

"Hmm, alright. Make sure you rest it though, no acrobatics for now."

"I don't know if I can restrain myself." Steele smiled through the pain and curled up to sleep. Balto felt the tiredness of the day sweep over him and he noticed he had not been really out in the wild for a good deal of time. Balto laid down next to Suki, but before Balto could close his eyes; Bismarck came up to him.

"You have done us a good turn Balto. Tomorrow, I can lead you back into town and hopefully help you find your humans."

"Thank you, nothing against you all, but I hate that city of yours." Balto returned.

"You have no dog here that will disagree with that, the only reason that we even used to go into the city anymore is for food, now with our new hunting grounds, it think we can put that place behind us."

"Good to hear, I hope you can make this a good home for the others."

"That is my dream, goodnight Balto. I will get all of you home tomorrow, I promise." Bismarck turned and made for the house and Balto eyes closed tight.


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 Homeward Bound

Swartz Auto Junkyard April 10, 1929

A small paw repetitively tapped Balto's nose. He opened his eyes to see Suki over him. In the distance the sun had barely begun to announce its arrival. The pink clouds occasionally parted to show a glint or two of the new sun.

"What are you doing? It must be five in the morning." Balto complained.

"That big dog Bismarck told me to come and wake you up." She said apologetically.

"It is time; we had best get an early start." Bismarck said as he walked into the small metal crate Balto and the others had called home for the last twenty four hours. Balto decided to just follow along and get up. Steele and Loki where also roused from slumber and got ready to leave. Boris and Stella came down from their roost in the trees and they looked well rested given their new habitat. Boris patted Balto's side and looked up to speak.

"Are you alright Balto?"

"Fine, why do you ask?"

"Just thought I should, last few days have been bit too exciting for my taste. How is Suki holding up?"

"Better than I would in her place." He looked her way; she and Loki were happily playing with each other, all most like the last few days had never transpired. "She is a good kid, so is Loki, but they are headstrong and overconfident; I just hope either doesn't overestimate themselves." Boris watched them play as well and smiled the smile that Balto had not seen since they had arrived.

"Do they remind you of anyone?"

"Who?" Balto asked, thrown for a loop.

"They remind me of when you and Steele were young and innocent. Now you two are old and, I leave it at that." Balto silently chucked and took in the small grace of downtime before they had to go back into the meat-grinder. Steele walked up and sat down next to Balto and yawned.

"Morning Howler, ready to go home?"

"Do I really need to answer that? What I am not ready for is another dose of that city though, give me Nome any day."

"Amen to that one brother." Steele decided to ask the question that kept him up half the night. "Do you think they will come after us?"

"I hope we can avoid them, but that is just wishful thinking. How about your leg? You took a nasty hit the other day." Steele lifted up his front paw and moved it around.

"Doesn't hurt too bad, I should make it back home without too much fuss. That said, I still might take an extra break now and again." Bismarck walked up to them; he made a motion with his head in the directi8n of the gate.

"Come on folks, it is time we left." Just as Bismarck turned around, he saw his son standing in front of him.

"I want to come along." Lukas said.

"Really? Ever since Jo, you haven't wanted to go to the suburbs much less the Loop." Bismarck and Lucas shared a small look that said a thousand words.

"I know, but there is no use in hiding from it. I may as well do it now rather than later."

"Alright, you can come. But I want you to be careful, no running off." Bismarck patronized.

"I'm not a pup anymore, I can handle myself." Bismarck cracked a smile that hinted his silent approval.

"You are exactly right. Let's move. Ripley, watch after the others until we come back." All six dogs departed with two geese honking above them. Not particularly eager to walk the mean streets of Chicago again, they slowly made way to return to the city on the far horizon. They marched down the winding road out of the mountainous forests behind them and did their best to make small talk for the trip.

"So, it looks like that overcast is starting to go away." Balto noted the clouds above them. For days the clouds had made a blanket over the city were now starting to part, revealing slivers of sunlight. Bismarck looked up and saw the same.

"Hmm, so they are. It will be good to have some warm sun here soon." Higher up Boris and Stella also took in the scenery below them.

"It has been a long time since I flew over a place that looked like this." Stella said. "I grew up in Central Park, now I remember why I left home."

"Why is that?" Boris asked her.

"This whole vacation we've had, it has been one helleva trip. I've seen us almost get killed more times in the last two days than we have in the last two years." Boris knew what she meant; he had raised Balto from a pup and had been at his side since. In the last few years, Boris's little boychik had managed to endanger himself many times, but this was the first time he ever saw Balto scared.

"Da, I hope we don't have to repeat this." Boris hung his head slightly, and then he saw it. The glittering city show through from the other side of the hill. From here it seemed so peaceful and pristine. But the reality was something altogether more deadly. Soon they would be walking its streets once again, and once again, danger would walk with them.


	21. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 Here we go again

Chicago April 10, 1929

Lucas surveyed his surroundings and felt as if he were walking in slow motion. Each and every corner looked and felt familiar to him. He took in the smells of the city and reveled it, not only the smells of food and parks, but the smells of the car exhaust and squalor. It all felt fresh to him, yet eerily haunting.

"Lucas, come on, we have a lot of ground to cover." Bismarck said, noticing the day-dreaming shepherd. He did not respond. Lucas's day dream was slowly turning into a nightmare. Memories of years past flew before his eyes. Across the street, he could see Vito's and smell the smoking meats. The images of his puppy-hood friend were slowly being replaced with the reason he had never returned to the big city. The memory of when they walked into a swarm of hungry rats burst into his mind. The sea of red-eyes before him and the laughter, Lukas verged on breaking down. Bismarck ran to his son, who was now lying down, silently sobbing. As Bismarck tended to him, Boris looked up at Balto.

"There was time when that could have been you." he said. Balto closed his eyes and sighed.

"There was a time when that was me. I know how he feels, lost, scared, alone. He is a strong kid, he'll heal, and it will just take time." Time was not on Lucas's side today, he wanted to curl up into a ball and disappear. The flashes of the darkest day of his life resurfaced and now played out like a horror flick.

Chicago Loop District, December 25, 1928

Lucas was quietly minding his own business, taking in the smells of Vito's deli when a snowball pelted the side of his face. He turned in the direction of the attack to be greeted with another snowball to the face.

"Hey!" He quickly wiped the snow off of his face and looked around. Before he knew it he was tacked from behind. His attacker knocked him to the ground and pinned him down. "I give up, you win."

"I thought you shepherds were mighty attack dogs." Jo had beaten him, again.

"I thought you border collies were nice and docile. Best five out of eight?" Jo shook her head and knelt down.

"Never, now go on, a bet is a bet." She got off of him and he stood up. She was large for her breed and her fur was almost completely black except for a white streak that ran from her forehead to her nose. Lucas wanted to stare into her blue eyes, but she had other plans. Jo stepped on his paw and snatched him out of the daydream he was having.

"Come on, get a move on!" She ordered.

"Alright, alright, you're so bossy." He turned and walked towards the fence that separated Vito's backyard from the snow-covered alley.

"This coming from Bismarck's son, right."

"Speaking of him, when he finds out we left, he is gonna kill us."

"He has to find us first. Go on, I'm hungry" Lucas gave in and jumped the fence. He silently landed on all fours and ducked behind a crate of charcoal. The fat Italian known as Vito walked up to the crate with a shovel. Lucas did his best to make his large body as small and stealthy as possible. Vito obviously plunged the shovel into the charcoal while humming a tune from the old country. He tossed the shovel full of coal into a large fire chamber connected to his smoker. Lucas watched him pick up a pair of succulent red porterhouse steaks he had just hand seasoned and plopped them onto the smokers rack, which just happened to be both Lucas' s and Jo's favorite. The jingle of a bell in the store called Vito through the open back door. Lucas took the opportunity and sneaked around the yard and darted past the door. The steaks were like a pie on a windowsill, fresh for the taking. Lucas picked up both in his mouth and sprinted for the fence; he leapt over it and saw Jo waiting below.

"Not bad, missed your record by about five seconds." Lucas tossed her a steak; she caught it mid air and took a bite out.

"Merry Christmas Jo." Lucas wished the city hung mistletoe on all of the streetlamps, he could make a killing."

"Thank you, and Merry Christmas." Both downed their steaks and Jo was ready for their next bit of holiday shenanigans.

"Race you to the river!" She darted off in the direction of the water and Lucas gave chase.

"Why does everything have to be a competition with you; can't we just have some fun?"

"This is fun!" They turned a corner and Jo jumped over a pile of trash. Lucas came around the outside and passed her.

"You asked for it." Jo was fast, but Lucas was faster. It did not take long for him to see the bridge and their finish-line. Jo was a respectable thirty feet behind him. He zipped around another corner and the bridge was directly ahead. He sprinted the last fifty feet and slid to a halt. For once he finally beat Jo at he own game. He turned around, panting, looking for Jo so he could begin to gloat. However, there was no Jo to be seen. Lucas knew she would take the same root as him so he retraced his steps. It did not take long for him to find Jo's trail. Her line of tracks followed his until the banked off to another side alley and the tracks turned into a scuffle. Blood shown through the snow and a dead body was in front of him. The body was that of a rat. Two more just like it were strewn in the alley. Lucas heard a bang on the side of a garbage can and he jumped around the metal can with his teeth bearing. The bang was Jo knocking a rat into the can, breaking its neck. She tossed the rat away and looks at Lucas with a mixed emotion of fear and anger.

"Nice timing, you showed up just in time to miss the party." She scolded. Lucas was thinking of an answer that would not end him up in the doghouse for the foreseeable future when he saw another rat come around the corner. Both dogs snapped their heads in the direction of the lone rat. Two more came around the corner, then four, then ten.

"Looks like I made it for the after party though." Not before long, it was obvious they would be hopelessly outnumbered. "I'd hate to say it but maybe we should-"

"Run!" Jo turned tail and both beat a hasty retreat. They came to the intersection of the alleys and more rats occupied their escape route.

"Come on, we can lose them if we make it to the river!" Lucas grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her in the direction of the river. They constantly looked over their shoulders as they ran. The swarm did its best to stay on their terrified heels. They spent so much time looking behind them; they almost didn't see the wall of rats in front of them. Both stopped dead in their tracks and Lucas came face-to-face with his father's old friend. Claudius was as ugly as ever and was none too happy with their presence.

"Do you realize where you are and who I am?" Claudius cracked a smile of jagged-yellow teeth.

"Who died and made you king of the cesspit?" Jo snapped.

"You have a mouth on you, good I like my dinner a little tough, but not that tough. Do me a favor and tenderize them." Claudius sent his rat-pack on the attack. Lukas did the math and he did not like their chances.

"You just had to open your mouth didn't you?"

"He was being snarky, sue me." Jo picked up a rat and tossed it over the large embankment and into the river. The rat hit the thin ice and plunged into the freezing water. Lucas caught a rat by the tail and swung it like a mace; knocking down another four. He then pounced on another. Jo tore though as many as she could. Her thick fur made it nearly impossible for the rats to do any real damage. Within minutes, they were wading in dead rats, but more kept coming. Lucas was beginning to tire and Jo felt like her batteries were running low. If they did not get help soon they would be done for. The rats saw them lose their edge and pressed the attack. They separated the two dogs and made them lose the advantages they gave one another. Jo saw more coming and backed up. The rats continued to close in on her and she stepped back again. Her back paw slipped on the icy embankment and she caught herself just in time. She looked out on the rat swarm closing in on her and now knew she had to fight just to survive the next ten seconds. She lashed out with everything she had. No matter how many rats she felled, a dozen more replaced them. The rats charged her and knocked her over, she attempted to stand when another wave crashed into her. She lost her footing entirely and she and half a dozen rats plunged over the embankment and down to the icy river.

"No!"Lucas shouted as she fell. The dog fell through the ice and splashed into the bone-chilling water underneath. She did not surface. "You sons a bitches!" Lucas's brain turned off and he began to carve through the army in front of him. He lost track of how many he felled and his fur was caked in blood. Rat bodies piled around him. Soon the attacks began to lessen. Then he heard why. The barking that signaled his father was coming. Claudius shouted to his army

"Enough, we need to retreat, more are coming." He stalked away and his rats began to scatter. Bismarck and four others, including Ripley ran around the corner. The first thing Bismarck saw was his son, covered in blood and bites; then he saw the hundreds of dead bodies around him. Next he saw what was not there.

"Son, what happened? Where is Jo?" Lucas saw his father and felt relived. Then he collapsed, he wasn't sure if it was out of pain or the loss of the adrenaline he had been running on or the question that his father just asked him. Bismarck and Ripley ran to his side and began to check him over.

"Son can you hear me? Are you alright?" Lucas blacked out

"You alright son?" Bismarck asked. Lucas came back into reality and saw that he was among friends

"I'm better; this is just a little, overwhelming that's all." Lukas got back on the proverbial horse and continued on ahead next to his father.

"Just a little, you were on the ground for a good half-hour." Steele interjected.

"I'm fine, really." Lucas lied, he was anything but fine. He still had the capacity to walk however and continued on.

"I gotta admire the kid's tenacity." Steele murmured to Balto. Balto raised his eyebrows.

"I guess so."

Bismarck and Lucas led on; Steele and Balto followed close behind with the pups in tow. Boris and Stella had gotten back up in the air and circled above them

"Hey, was it like that for you after you know, you left Nome?" Balto asked Steele.

"Not so much after I left but after I came back. It was not a fun time for me." Steele said, brushing of the question.

"Oh, I see." Balto made a quick decision to drop the subject before more bad memories got dragged back up. The six dogs continued to stroll down the relatively quiet and calm sidewalk. It was still the early morning so commuters would not come out of the woodwork for a little while. It was best to make time while they could. Boris and Stella flew above them and saw the city once again from the sky, at their altitude; the city seemed peaceful, almost perfect. Almost perfect, except for what Boris caught out of the corner of his eye. A single, scrawny dog running down an alley.

"Stella, look!" Stella saw the same thing and dropped out of the sky; Boris dove after her and they landed in front of their canine companions.

"Hey Boris, what gives?" Balto asked as the goose nearly hit his head.

"A dog, in the next street, it doesn't look to good." Boris said, panting. It was all Bismarck needed to hear. The German shepherd bolted like a race horse let out of a gate. The others did their best to keep up, but Bismarck put his boosters on and sprinted around the corner. He couldn't believe what was on the other side.

"Impossible." Was all he could utter. Everyone else blitzed around the corner and saw the dog in front of them. Lucas took one look and nearly fell down. What was in front of them was a black and white border collie.

"Am I dreaming?" Lucas asked. After blinking multiple times, what was in front of him was real. He stuck out a paw and hit the collie, she was solid. "J-Jo?"

"I look good don't I?" she said with a hint of sarcasm. She was underweight and bore a few scars on her sides.

"How, where,-" Lukas was at a loss for words.

"After I took a swan dive, I got knocked out. I came to in some tunnel, practically frozen and half-dead. I hid in there for days, scrounging what food I could. I hoped to get my strength back and somehow get home."

"We searched forever for you. Why didn't you come out to us?" Lukas looked like he would begin to cry.

"I was so scared, I'm sorry." She snapped her head around as if she heard something. "Damn it! I thought I lost them! We have to get out of here!"

Lucas looked behind her and saw his favorite rodent on top of a dumpster. Claudius stared at them hungrily with his single eye. More rats poured out of every crevice and cranny, cutting off any escape.

"Hello Jo, good to see you again." Claudius said menacingly, and then looked up to the others. "Bismarck." he spat out. "How fitting that I finish you here. Tell me do you recognize this place?" Claudius said waving his arms around. Bismarck looked around and realized where he was standing. "It is where we first met, where you first stood in my way, where you gave me this!" Claudius referenced his absent eye and pointed back at the dogs. "And it is where you will all die!"

"Oh, not again." Balto said to himself.

"Yep." Steele returned. "Loki, Suki, go and hide now!" The pups did as they were told wordlessly.

"Boris! Stella! Get moving, you can't be down here." Boris began to protest but Stella took off and grabbed him.

"Now is not the time to argue!" Stella shouted as she dragged him up.

"Jo, can you fight?" Lukas asked.

"Do I have a choice?" Jo responded Lukas answered her with a look that said no. Bismarck yelled over the incoming rats, hoping to rally those around him.

"It is time we ended this, don't spare any of them!" Bismarck stomped on the nearest one to him and bit into another. Balto and Steele were forced to fight off fought off the vermin once again. Lucas took a protective stance around Jo and killed anything that came near. Loki and Suki just did their best not to be stepped on. The chaotic maelstrom of teeth, claws and fur whirled around the alley. Untold numbers of rats poured out of every crevice and threw themselves blindly into the maws of their enemies; soon after, scores of dead rats littered the ground. Steele snagged a rat by the tail and tossed it into another three, handily knocking them down.

"There is no end to them." Steele remarked.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll run out." Balto said back and dispatched another rat. Balto turned and saw four that had backed Suki into a corner. Before Balto could say or do anything, Loki jumped out from behind her. Loki pounced on the rats and eliminated each one with a vicious efficiency. Leaping and bounding from one to the next, slamming their heads into the ground. He tackled the last one and bit into its neck. Suki stood untouched and in a bit of a daze.

"Are you ok?" Asked Loki. She did not answer as both were too busy being grabbed by the scruff by Steele and tossed into a pipe "I told you two to hide! Now stay here. Loki keep her safe."

"Yes sir." Loki said in return. Balto, now sure the pups were now safe, went back to the battle. More rats had emerged and Claudius was leading the charge. Lucas saw him and the anger flashed over his eyes once again and he lost control. The shepherd attacked with what could only be a fury of elephantine proportions. Lucas abandoned any and all sense of self preservation. He tore a path through the sea of rodents in the direction of Claudius. It was nothing short of a bloodbath. Lukas could now clearly see his quarry. The fat rat lashed out with a strike of his tail, which Lukas simply stepped on with a paw, the other pinned Claudius down to the pavement. The last thing that Claudius's eye ever saw was a set of teeth. Lucas lifted his head up and tossed the body aside. What was left of the fat king of the rats flew over the heads of his remaining subjects.

"He is dead!" Without Claudius to lead them, the rats routed and ran for any hole they could squeeze through.

"Look at 'em run, ha ha!" Steele laughed as the rats ran for their lives.

"We did it." Bismarck saw what was around him. "We did it. It's finally over." Bismarck sighed out. Lucas turned and saw the path he cleaved through.

"Well, what do you know, we won!" Lukas seemed as if he were a new dog. He was nothing short of ecstatic. He ran to and collided with Jo. He took the time to nuzzle her and say something to her; he said it so low that only Jo could hear it.

"I missed you."

"Me too." Off to the side, Loki and Suki crawled out of the pipe. Balto and Steele picked them up and brought them back to the others. Boris and Stella dropped back out of the sky.

"Congratulations Bismarck." Balto said. "It seems like you all panned out pretty well." Bismarck now wore a few new scars on him, but he seemed to be proud of them.

"The thanks goes to you my friend." It appeared that the danger was now over. Now that the battle had ended, Loki was soon back to his old self.

"Papa, did you see me! I beat all those rats!" Loki bounced into the air. Steele saw how happy he was and decided now was a good a time as any.

"About that. Loki there is something I need to tell you." Loki stopped bouncing and a look of concern washed over his face.

"What is it Papa?" Steele almost broke at the sight of the innocence in his pups eyes

"It is about your mother, she-" a loud and high pitched screech of a tire came from around the corner. The screech was connected to the black car that tore around the corner. Balto recognized the car immediately; it was the same car he was dragged out of when he first arrived in a Chicago three days earlier.

"Who are they?" Lucas asked. Balto knew what he had to do.

"Jo, you said you know your way around the tunnels right?" Balto asked. She nodded affirmatively.

"Then get out of here as quickly as you can." Balto paused for a moment then heard another car coming. "And take Loki and Suki with you. Steele and I can hold them off long enough for you to get away." Loki turned to his father, whose demeanor did not appear to change at all. Before Loki could say anything in protest, Steele held up a paw.

"Loki now is not the time to argue, this is the only way. We will find you I promise." Steele looked back at Bismarck. "Promise me they will be safe." Bismarck nodded and picked up a whimpering Loki and darted off. Lukas picked up Suki on the run and darted into the open tunnel behind Jo. The cars came into the alley and stopped. Balto's old friends, Rico and Tony popped out of the back seat with rifles. Steele let out a scared yelp.

"Are they trying to kill us?" The men lined up shots on the dogs and fired. Balto saw no flash nor heard a bang. What he did feel was something sticks into him. He looked at his side and saw a large dart in his leg; he looked at Steele and saw a matching accessory. Balto's vision blurred and he later lost consciousness.


	22. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 Choices and Consequences

The first thing Balto smelled when he awoke was mildew. The cold and wet metallic cage in which he was once again entrapped inside sat on the stone floor. Judging from the dampness of the brick and the smell, it was not too difficult to figure out he was underground. Above him the only light was from a single hanging bulb on a wire. Through the barred door, he could see another cage identical to his own in every way. Inside was the black and white mound of fur that was Steele.

"Steele, hey Steele!" Steele did not move a muscle in response. The gentle rise and fall of his side hinted that he was still under the effects of the tranquilizer they had been shot with. Outside his cell, Balto could hear some men talking down the hall.

"Andre, you are a genius. Catching those mutts again, pure magic." It was the voice of Capone. "Keep this up and I might actually like you."

"Thank you Mr. Capone." Andre said hastily. Both men turned down the hall which housed the cells, behind them were a pair of large men toting automatic weapons.

"It is a shame we could not recover the young ones, but our client should be well pleased with these two." Capone stepped in front of Balto's cell; to avoid being noticed; Balto put his head down and made it look like he was still asleep.

"When will they be ready to be put on the boat?" Capone asked.

"A day or so, just to be sure they have no disease."

"Good, I don't want anybody to think I sell damaged merchandise. So then, let's continue, I also heard you caught the two men that have been looking for them?"

"Yes sir, they were a regular pair of walking arsenals. Had enough firepower to wipe out a small town."

Capone laughed at Andre when he said this.

"A small town huh, well that just proves how dumb they are, this is my big town. Let's have a little talk with our bright boys." Capone turned and went back the way he came with Andre close behind him. "How did you find them?" Capone asked

"We just tailed em and when they came up to Vito's place they all got out and started snoopen around. The two boys in there had some fluttize with 'em and she left in her car. Then we just followed them down the alley and grabbed them."

"Easy as that?"

"More or less."

"Good man Vito, he always had the best hickory ham come Christmas. We always used to buy one and carve it up, best in town."

"I'll have to try it sometime." Andre said as he opened the metal door to the room he was interrogating Duke and Jake earlier. Andre waived Capone in and the sharply dressed mob boss waltzed in. "They're in there boss." Andre pointed to the storage room door. Capone took hold of the doorknob when a thunderous bang made the dust come out of the ceiling of the back room and spats of gunfire could be heard throughout. "What the heck is going on here?" Andre asked, dumbfounded to what was transpiring outside the door. Capone's bodyguards burst into the room and shoved Andre to the side, he hit his head on a pipe and he fell, dazed and confused on the ground.

"Mr. Capone, the feds are here we need to leave now!" The brick of a man said as he practically carried him out the door and into the dark and obscure tunnels. Andre remained on the floor, speechless; he tried to stand when a large boot stood on his chest. He looked up and saw Jake's piercing grey eyes in return. Duke stood next to him holding his bobby pin.

"You are officially the world's worst jailer." Duke said mockingly. The sounds of many footfalls thumped around outside the door. Duke saw them out of the corner of his eye at first and nearly fainted. Four men charged into the room with everything from Tommy guns to shotguns. The men pointed their weapons at Duke and Jake and yelled at them to put their hands in the air. Duke froze in place and the blood drained out of his face. Another man ran into the room, waving his arms.

"Lower your weapons, damn it lower them, these are the good guys!" Duke took one look at the man and recognized him instantly. It was the cab driver from the airport.

"Tomas?" Andre looked at the tall man as well and his jaw dropped.

"Jefferson?" The man reached into his coat pocket and held out a wallet with a badge on it.

"Neither, special agent Leroy Anderson, FBI. But he was my favorite president. Now what in the Sam heck is-, ah hell, put them all in the wagon; we can sort this out later." The other men, presumably four more FBI agents took out hand cuffs and placed them on Duke, Jake and Andre and began to walk them out.

"Wait! Wait!" Jake yelled. "These assholes have our dogs; please you need to get them!" The agent held up a hand stopping Jake before he went completely off the rails.

"Easy son, we already picked them up, they will be taken to a hospital and looked over, same as you." This statement was enough to finally let Jake be at ease for the first time in days; Duke let out a breath he seemed to have been holding since they left Nome. "Now let's get out of here before the whole Outfit shows up to introduce us to the neighborhood." Everyone began to funnel out of the tunnel system and up the stairs. Outside of their little hole in the wall looked like a warzone. A pair of army trucks sat outside with no less than thirty soldiers and FBI agents with rifles and machine guns. A pair of police transports idled in the alleyway. One was already filled with the assorted hired guns bodyguards and hitmen. In this bunch sat Tony and Rico. Across the street, Liz leaned against her car and waved to them when she saw them.

"She followed you here and called in the cavalry."

"You said your name was Anderson, right?" Duke asked.

"Who do you think taught her how to shoot? I just wish I spent more time teaching her how to drive." Agent Anderson motioned them into another black and white police van. Duke and Jake sat down on one side of the bench seats while Andre and Anderson took the other side. Outside the van, Duke saw two strapping soldiers carrying the cages that held Balto and Steele to an ambulance. Jake then saw two familiar fuzz-balls running at them. He didn't know how Loki and Suki made it out and he didn't really care. All he could do was smile as they hopped inside and jumped on their laps.

"Hey, what is this?" Anderson laughed out.

"Meet Loki and Suki, the pups that our mutual friend here dog napped." Jake said, staring daggers at Andre.

"About that." Anderson said in an apologetic manner. "I would like to introduce you to agent Krinkov. He has been undercover in the Outfit for nearly a year now." Duke had a slack-jawed look on his face.

"Sorry about the deception at the airport back in Anchorage, I just got assigned as your handler and didn't want to tip anybody off."

"Wait a minute, you are an FBI agent?" Duke asked.

"I have been for quite some time." The mild Russian accent was replaced by a typical Midwest drawl. "I would have said something but I needed to maintain my facade."

"Oh, well, thanks for the bobby pin." Duke said. "But next time can you give it to me in a way that doesn't involve you breaking my teeth in?"

"I make no promises." Krinkov cracked a smile.

"Hey this is all well and good but can we get these two back to Balto and Steele?" Jake said holding up Loki.

"Alright, I'll make sure they go with their parents to the hospital." Anderson called over one of the paramedics. She came over and picked up the two pups and brought them to the ambulance that now had Balto and Steele inside. The paramedic plopped them both next to Balto and Steele. Balto was so happy he could burst. He looked across the yard and saw Bismarck with Lucas and Jo in an entrance to the many tunnels underneath the city. The great German shepherd let out a soft howl and turned back down the tunnel towards his home.

"Hey Howler, looks like we owe Bis 'ol boy a bone." Steele joked.

"If I'm ever in the neighborhood, I'll drop off one." Balto just simply smiled and put his head down on the metal floor of the ambulance and felt Suki climbed onto his back. They could now finally rest.


	23. Epilogue

Epilogue Nome Alaska April 11, 1929

For the second time in the last week, Balto had spent the night in a cramped area in a plane. The FBI was nice enough to give them all a free trip home. However the flight was far from pleasurable. The entire time he was in a metal caged crate with Steele, Loki and Suki next to him. Duke and Jake sat opposite them, both quietly snoring in their seats. Secretly, Boris and Stella once again stowed away in an overhead cargo compartment. Balto could hear the occasional noise come up from above but decided not to think about what was happening inside. Unable to sleep, he stared out the window and watched the clouds fly by in the early morning sky. A woman walked out from behind a blue curtain and picked up a transceiver for the intercom.

"Attention we will be landing in Nome in a few minutes. Welcome home." Duke and Jake woke up and looked out the window. The morning sun was just peeking out from behind a mountain, lighting up the town below and turning the sky pink. The plane landed and Duke let the dogs out of their cage.

"Welcome home boy." Duke hugged Balto and scratched him behind the ears. All four dogs hopped out of the plane. Balto heard the bark he thought he would never hear again and saw what he thought he would never see ever again. Jenna ran into him and nearly knocked him down.

"I thought I lost you." She said, nearly crying from joy.

"You nearly did once or twice; but I'm home, and I'm not going anywhere." Balto saw the rest of his adopted and mismatched family of sled dogs and bears walk to them as well with Kodi riding on Muk's back. Boris and Stella flapped down next to them. Steele and Loki were greeted with open arms as well.

Daisy sat atop a stack of crates and hopped down she trotted over to Steele and nuzzled him.

"So, how was your week?" She said with a tone of voice that hinted Steele was in the proverbial doghouse for a good month.

"Um, eventful. So when did you get back?"

"An hour ago." Daisy seemed quiet calm given the situation. "You are gonna spill your guts on this one." No outburst or tirade, Steele was definitely in hot water.

"Papa, what is it you wanted to tell me before?" Loki asked.

"Oh that, well, maybe you should go and get your brothers and sisters then meet me at Balto's boat. Your mother and I should tell you all at once." With that Loki bounded away to the heard of pups and Rowdy who had been caring for them. Bois and Stella flew out of the plane and flew a circle around them.

"Hey Steele." Balto called from behind him. "Tell them the truth, don't hold back." Steele nodded and rolled his eyes.

"Tell them about what?" Daisy asked.

"You know family, particularly your side of the family."

"Oh, you can have the honors of doing that." His punishment had already begun. Two happy geese landed next to Balto and it was greeting and hugs all around. Then Boris was snatched up from behind and nearly choked to death by Muk.

"Uncle Boris your back! We missed you so much!" Luk piped as his brother squeezed the life out of their Uncle.

"I missed you to. Will you be putting me down now?" Muk dropped him and he landed on Balto's back.

"You know boychik, I am thinking of indulging Stella."

"By all means, just don't give me the play by play." Balto pleaded. Boris and Stella flapped off towards the boat and Balto turned his attention back to Jenna. The sun had now come out from behind the buildings and lit him up from behind. Balto felt the last week melt off as he stood up and followed her home and he felt as if he could never leave her side again.


End file.
